Triazene-N-oxides as new type of fluorimetric reagents

Summary The fact that niobium gives orange fluorescence (_ex^max 570, _em^max 540 nm) in both acid and alkali media with 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenyltriazene-N-oxide, has been exploited to develop a simple, sensitive and selective method for the determination of trace amounts of the metal in 50% ethanolic medium. Measurements are made at the pH range of 3.2–5.0. Fluorescence intensity attains the maximum value after 45 min of standing and remains almost unchanged after 24 h. Calibration graph maintains linearity from 50 ppb to 2.2 ppm of the metal. Forty cations and anions are without any effect on the fluorimetric determination of niobium(V). The method has been applied to the analysis of synthetic mixtures.