Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of aluminium in river water with pyrocatechol violet and a quaternary ammonium salt

The simple removal of excess of co-extracted reagent in the solvent extraction of anionic metal complexes with a quaternary ammonium salt greatly improves the determination of aluminium with Pyrocatechol Violet (PV) and zephiramine (tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride). The exchange equilibrium constants for PV reagent and aluminium complex with four univalent anions (halides and nitrate) were determined when chloroform and 1,2-dichloroethane were used as extracting solvents. The constants were compared with those obtained with Pyrogallol Red. The method with PV and chloroform is suitable for the determination of micro-amounts of aluminium in river water. The apparent molar absorptivity of the aluminium complex in chloroform is 8.9 x 10(4) 1 mol(-1) cm(-1) at 587 nm. The limit of detection and precision achieved with the method are 3 mug l(-1) and within 4% respectively. A large excess of reagent can be used, and the ternary complex can be completely extracted over the pH range 5.5-10. Masking agents allow most interferences to be suppressed.