A clean analytical method for the spectrophotometric determination of formetanate incorporating an on-line microwave assisted hydrolysis step

A fast and completely automated procedure is proposed for the spectrophotometric determination of formetanate in waters by means of its reaction with p-aminophenol (PAP). The method involves the on-line alkaline hydrolysis of formetanate to m-aminophenol (MAP) and its reaction, in the presence of KIO₄ as oxidant agent, with the quinoneimine form of PAP, to form a blue indophenol dye which absorbs at 576 nm. The on-line hydrolysis can be carried out in a 6 m reaction coil located inside the cavity of a domestic microwave oven operated at 650 W, or in a 4 m reaction coil located inside the cavity of a Microdigest 301 microwave system operated at 60 W and allows us, in both cases, a complete hydrolysis of formetanate thus improving the complete automation of the analytical procedure. After the measurement step, the analytical waste is merged with a TiO₂ slurry and then detoxified by on-line UV-irradiation.