Oxidation with permanganate in presence of fluoride: Determination of hypophosphite

A rapid method is described for the determination of hypophosphite by oxidation with permanganate in acid medium in the presence of fluoride to prevent formation of insoluble oxides of manganese. The optimum conditions for visual and potentiometric end-point detection are given. Hypophosphite is oxidized to H(2)PO(-)(3). Under optimum conditions the titrations are fast and exhibit a reasonable potential change at the end-point. The method demonstrates the feasibility of determining amounts of H(2)PO(-)(2) corresponding to 0.08-7 mg of phosphorus.