Spectrophotometric determination of anionic surfactants in tap and river waters with 1-(10-bromodecyl)-4-(4-aminonaphthylazo)-pyrimidinium bromide

Summary A new cationic dye, 1-(10-bromodecyl)-4-(4-aminonaphthylazo)-pyridinium bromide, was synthesized and evaluated as a new reagent for the determination of anionic surfactants. The reagent reacts with anionic surfactants, such as sodium dodecylsulphate and sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate, to produce an ion associate in an aqueous medium. The colour change occurs simultaneously, and the colour development is very stable. This makes it possible to determine anionic surfactants directly by spectrophotometry without solvent extraction. The stoichiometric ratio of the ion associate was found to be 1:1 by the mole ratio method. The calibration graph was linear up to 2.5×10^–6 mol/l. The apparent molar absorptivity of the ion associate was 5.3×10⁴ l mol^–1 cm^–1 (at 595 nm). The relative standard deviation (n=10) for 1.2×10^–6 mol/l sodium dodecylsulphate was 4.9%. The proposed method was applied to the determination of anionic surfactants in tap and river waters.