Ternary complexes in the spectrophotometric determination of trace amounts of silver(I) and cadmium(II)

The reaction of silver(I) and cadmium(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline (PHEN) and Eosin (2,4,5,7-tetrabromofluorescein) gives coloured association complexes. The solution spectra of the mixed-ligand complexes are characterised by high intensity (∈ ≈ 10⁴) metal-to-ligand charge-transfer bands at 540–555nm. The optimum conditions for the spectrophotometric determination of Ag(I) or Cd(II) have been established. A simple, sensitive and selective method was proposed for the determination of traces of the metal ions either in aqueous or organic media. In the presence of EDTA only aluminium and cyanide interfere.