Spectrophotometric determination of chloride in non-polar media by the mercury(II) thiocyanate reaction

A simple, rapid and accurate method for the spectrophotometric determination of chloride in non-polar media is described. The method is based on the well-known reaction of mercury(II) thiocyanate with chloride to release thiocyanate, which then reacts with iron(III). The optimum concentrations of reagents for the determination of chloride in 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (iso-octane) and cyclohexane are reported. The molar absorptivity of the complex at 505 nm is 5120 ± 200 dm³ mol^?1 cm^?1 for iso-octane and 5340 ± 340 dm³ mol^?1 cm^?1 for cyclohexane. Beer's Law is obeyed in the range 2 × 10^?7–2 × 10^?5 mol dm^?3 (0.01–1 mg l^?1) chloride.