Spectrophotometric determination of uranium(VI) with 2-(3,5-dibromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of anionic surfactant

A highly sensitive method for spectrophotometric determination of uranium has been devised. The method is based on formation of a red-violet 1:2 (metal:ligand) complex from the reaction of uranium(VI) with 2-(3,5-dibromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (3,5-diBr-PADAP) in the presence of an anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulphate. Its molar absorptivity is found to be 9.1 x 10(4)l.mole(-1).cm(-1). The absorbance is constant in the range pH 8.4-9.9 Beer's law is obeyed for 0-1.4 mug/ml concentrations of uranium. In the presence of DCTA the method is selective for uranium, and can be used for the determination of trace amounts of uranium in water samples.