Spectrophotometric determination of osmium with p-(morpholino)-n-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxy)benzylidineaniline

A sensitive spectrophotometric determination of osmium is based on the blue color (absorption maximum at 615 mμ formed by reaction of osmium with p-(morpholino)-N-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxy)benzylidineaniline (“anil”) in acetate-buffered solution containing ethanol to prevent formation of a precipitate, Full color development is attained in I h at room temperature, and the color is stable for several hours. The absorbance is reproducible. The optimum concentration range for I-cm optical path is about I to 4 p.p.m. of osmium. Several transition elements interfere ; osmium can be separated as its tetroxide by the usual distillation method. The blue product is a cationic complex formed by reaction of anil with osmium in a 2 : I mole ratio. When osmium is in excess a red cationic complex (absorption maximum at 466 mμ) is formed by a I : I reaction between osmium and the reagent. The I : I complex is slowly converted to the 2 : I complex by excess reagent.