Spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) and its application to a plant sample containing zinc,iron, and manganese

Salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone instantaneously forms a green complex with copper(II) in the optimum pH range 5–7. A fivefold molar excess of the reagent is sufficient for the full development of the color. Beer's law is obeyed in the range 0.5–6.0 ppm of copper. The optimum concentration range as evaluated by Ringbom's method is 1.4–5.8 ppm. At 375 nm the sensitivity of the reaction and the molar absorptivity are 0.006 μg cm^?2 and 9.2 × 10³ liters mol^?1 cm^?1, respectively. The effects of pH, reagent concentration, time, order of addition of the solutions, and the interference of various ions were investigated. Copper in plant samples, containing zinc, iron, and manganese, was determined.