Spectrophotometric determination of palladium after extraction of the chloro-stannous complex by tri-n-octylamine

The complex formed between palladium(II) and tin(II) in hydrochloric acid solutions, and its extractability by tri-n-octylamine were investigated. Two different species were obtained: one a brown-red complex and the other yellow. Both were extracted into tri-n-octylamine in benzene, but the yellow species which had a definite absorption maximum at 410 mμ was more suitable for the determination of palladium. A method is described for the spectrophotometric determination of palladium in the presence of many other elements. Both species are considered to be anionic and a mechanism for their extraction is proposed.