First Order Derivative Spectrophotometric Determination of Vanadium(V) and Iron(III) Individually and Simultaneously

A novel, sensitive and highly selective first derivative spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of vanadium(V) and iron(III) metal ions separately and simultaneously in a mixture. 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde benzoylhydrazone (OHNABH) reacts with vanadium(V) and iron(III) in sodium acetate–acetic acid buffer medium (pH 5.0) forming yellow and yellowish brown colored soluble complexes, respectively. The first derivative curves of these colored solutions show maximum derivative amplitudes at 465 nm (V(V)) and 540 nm (Fe(III)) obeying Beer's law in the range 0.12–2.50 g ml^–1 and 0.14–4.20 g ml^–1, respectively. Large number of foreign ions do not interfere in the present method. A very simple and accurate simultaneous first derivative method is also reported for the determination of V(V) and Fe(III) in mixtures without solving simultaneous equations. The method is applied for the analysis of various natural samples, food and biological materials.