Determination of nitrite by simple diazotization method

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of nitrite is described. This is based upon simple diazotization reactions involving p-nitroaniline (PNA) and sulfanilamide (SA) with ethyl acetoacetate (EAA) as the coupling agent. The absorbance was measured at 507 and 356 nm, respectively. The method is optimized for acidity, amount of reagents required, amount of sodium hydroxide and the tolerance amount of other ions. The range of linearity for PNA-EAA couple was 0.05-6.0 μg ml⁻¹ of nitrite with molar absorptivity of 1.59×10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹; while that for SA-EAA couple was found to be 0.2-3.0 μg ml⁻¹ and 1.22×10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹, respectively. The method has been applied to various water and soil samples.