Spectrophotometric Determination of Ruthenium by a Column Method Using 1,10-Phenanthroline and Ammonium Tetraphenylborate Supported on Microcrystalline Naphthalene

Tohru Nagahlro and Hiroshi Nishioka

Faculty of Engineering, Himeji Institute of Technology, Himeji 671 2201, Japan.

A new method has been established for the determination of trace amounts of ruthenium as tris(1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II)-(tetraphenyl borate ternary complex In a column loaded with the adsorbent (ammonium tetraphenylborate supported on microcrystalline naphthalene). The optimum pH range was found to be 4.2-5.0 at a flow-rate of 2ml min-1. The absorbent containing tris(1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II)-(tetraphenyl borate complex was dissolved with N,N- dimethylformamide and the absorbance was measured at 449nm. The calibration graph was linear over the concentration range 2-23.5μg of ruthenium in 5ml, of N.N-dimethylformamide solution. The molar absorptivity was calculated to be 1.74 x 104l mol-1cm-1 at 449nm. Seven replicate analyses for 11.8μg ruthenium gave a mean absorbance of 0.399 with a relative standard deviation of 0.62%.

ruthenium determination; spectrophotometry; adsorption; 1,10-phenanthroline; ammonium tetraphenylborate