Spectrophotometric determination of aluminum and iron in calcium

A simple, rapid, and accurate method is described whereby micro amounts of aluminum and iron can be determined in calcium metal. The iron is determined spectrophotometrically by measuring the absorbency of the reddish-orange color of the tris(1,10-phenanthroline)iron(II)ion, [(C₁₂H₈N₂)₃Fe]⁺⁺. This complex effectively removes the iron interference, and the aluminum is determined spectrophotometrically in the solution remaining from the iron determination by extracting it with a chloroform solution of 8-quinolinol and measuring the absorbency of the yellow color of the tris(8-quinolinolo)aluminum(III) in the chloroform solution.