Selective spectrophotometric determination of thorium(IV) with 2-(5-Bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol

A spectrophotometric study of the Th(IV) complex of a new reagent 2-(5-Bromo-2- pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) is presented. A reddish brown complex is formed at pH 4.86, and shows maximal absorbance at 580 nm with molar absorptivity of 1.66 × 10⁵ mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ liter. Beer's law is obeyed over the range 0.0 to 15 μg of thorium. Rare earths ions like La³⁺, Ce³⁺, and Y³⁺ do not interfere because they form complexes with 5-Br-PADAP at higher pH's (>9.94) (1). A new method for determining trace amounts of thorium is proposed, which possesses the advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity.