Highly sensitive and selective spectrophotometric method for determination of trace gold in geological samples with 5-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenylazo)rhodanine.

A excellent sensitive and selective method for spectrophotometric determination of trace gold has been developed, the method is based on the color reaction of gold(III) with new reagent 5-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenylazo)rhodanine (HNAR). Under optimal conditions, HNAR reacts with gold(III) to form a 1:5 orange complex, which has an maximum absorption peak at 480 nm. Maximum enhancement of the absorbance of the complex was obtained in the presence of the mixed surfactant of Triton X-100 and CTMAB; the reaction completed rapidly and the absorbance is stable for 5 h at least at 20 degrees C; 0-48 microg L(-1) Au(III) obeyed Beer's law. The apparent molar absorptivity of the complex, Sandell's sensitivity, the limit of quantification, the limit of detection and relative standard deviation were found to be 2.0x10(6) L mol(-1) cm(-1), 0.000,098,483 micro g cm(-2), 1.02 ng mL(-1), 0.35 ng mL(-1) and 1.09%, respectively. The effect of co-existing ions was studied seriously; most metal ions can be tolerated in considerable amounts. Its sensitivity and selectivity are remarkably superior to other reagents in the literature. The proposed method was used successfully to determine trace gold in geological samples. Moreover, the synthesis, characteristics and analytical reaction of HNAR with gold are also described in detail.