Rapid spectrophotometric determination of iron in natural waters with 4-(2-thiazolylazo)-6-chlororesorcinol

4-(2-Thiazolylazo)-6-chlororesorcinol reacts sensitively with iron(II) to form a water-soluble brown complex which has a characteristic absorption at 741 nm. By utilizing this absorption, rapid and selective spectrophotometric determination of iron has been developed. The absorbance is constant at pH 8.7 to 10.9 and Beer's law holds up to 1.8 ppm of iron, with a molar absorptivity of 3.13 × 10⁴ liters mol^?1 cm^?1. Many types of ions are tolerable and the method has been applied successfully to the determination of iron in river waters.