Spectrophotometric determination of vanadium with 1,10-phenanthroline

A simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of vanadium based upon the reaction of vanadate with 1,10-phenanthroline in the presence of sodium dithionite in ammoniacal solution is described. The absorbance of the complex measured at 645 nm follows Beer's law for solutions containing 30-400 microg of vanadium in 100 ml of solution. A 10-fold excess of molybdenum, tungsten, phosphorus or chromium does not interfere. The molar absorptivity is 8.0 x 10(3) 1 mole(-1) cm(-1). The complex is shown to be tris-1,10-phenanthroline vanadium(II). The method has been applied successfully to the determination of vanadium in bauxite.