Extraction and spectrophotometric determination of vanadium(V) with 8-hydroxyquinoline

The extraction and spectrophotometric determination of vanadium (V) with oxine is investigated at higher acidities than described previously. Under these conditions, n-butanol and other alcohols are found to exert a synergic effect on the extraction of vanadium into benzene. In the presence of alcohol only a 6-fold ligand excess is needed for quantitative extraction in a single operation, the acidity of the aqueous medium being 0.05M with respect to sulphuric or phosphoric acid. The interference of iron(III) in the spectrophotometric determination of vanadium is suppressed by the addition of pyrophosphate. Beer's law is obeyed up to 14.0 mug of vanadium/ml and the sensitivity is 0.008 mug of vanadium/cm(2) at 390 mmu. The composition of the extracted species is found to be vanadium:oxine:n-butanol = 1:2:2.