5-(4-Carboxylphenylazo)-8-aminoquinoline as an analytical reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of gold

The synthesis and analytical application of 5-(4-carboxylphenylazo)-8-aminoquinoline (CPAQ) are described. A simple, rapid, selective, and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of microgram amounts of gold is developed, based on the colour reaction between the metal ion and CPAQ in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. Gold (III) reacts with the reagent in the ratio 1 3 (metal to ligand) in alkaline solution to form a blue-green complex with an absorption maximum at 608 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range 0–1.8 g · ml^–1 (ppm) of gold. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the method are 9.11 × 10⁴ l · mole^–1 · cm^–1 and 0.00216 g · cm^–2, respectively. The interference of various ions has been studied and conditions were developed for the determination of gold in an ore and anode slimes.