Correction of iron interface in the spectrophotometric flow injection catalytic determination of molybdenum in plants

Iron interference in the spectrophotometric catalytic determination of molybdenum based on the iodide-hydrogen peroxide reaction can be corrected by using sulphosalicylic acid as masking and color-forming reagent. The catalytic influence of iron ions is circumvented to the extent of about 90% and correction of any remaining iron ions is possible by monitoring the colored iron(III)-salicylate complex at 490 nm. In this way, iron is also determined. With the proposed system, molybdenum can be determined in plant and food digests within the 0–100 μg Mo 1⁻¹ range in the presence of up to 25 mg Fe 1⁻¹, at a sampling rate of about 50 determinations h⁻¹. The relative standard deviation of 10 consecutive measurements was estimated as < 2%. Results for samples were comparable with those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. In addition, recoveries within the range 94–100% were calculated.