Study of 2-(2-quinolinylazo)-5-dimethylaminobenzoic acid as a new chromogenic reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of cobalt

2-(2-Quinolinylazo)-5-dimethylaminobenzoic acid (QADMAB) is proposed as a new sensitive and selective chromogenic reagent for spectrophotometric determination of cobalt. The QADMAB reacts with cobalt in the presence of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB) medium to form a violet complex of molar ratio 1:2 (cobalt to QADMAB) in the pH range 3.2-5.2. The molar absorptivity of the complex is 1.28x10(5) L mol(-1) cm(-1) at 625 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in range 0.01-0.32 micro g mL(-1). The relative standard deviation for eleven replicate samples of 0.2 micro g mL(-1) is 0.76%. This method was applied to the determination of cobalt in biological samples, Vitamin B(12), alloys and water with good results.