Rapid spectrophotometric determination of ruthenium(III) with prochlorperazine maleate

A rapid, simple spectrophotometric method for the determination of μg amounts of ruthenium, based on the formation of a pink complex between the metal and prochlorperazine maleate (PCPM) in sulphuric or hydrochloric acid solution, is described. The complex has an absorption maximum at 530 nm and its molar absorptivity is 6.733·10³ l mol^?1 cm^?1. The sensitivity is 0.0151 μg Ru cm^?2 for log I_o/I = 0.001. Beer's law is valid over the range 0.2–10 μg Ru ml^?1 ; the optimal range for spectrophotometric determination is 0.8–8.0 μg Ru ml^?1. Job's method of continuous variation, the mole ratio method and the slope ratio method indicate a 1:1 composition for the complex. The effects of acidity, time, temperature, order of addition of reagents, reagent concentration, and the interferences from various ions are reported.