Disulphides of dithiophosphinic acids as analytical reagents-I Extractive spectrophotometric determination of palladium with some bis(dialkylthiophosphoryl)- and bis(diarylthiophosphoryl)disulphides.

The disulphides of dithiophosphinic acids (DS) with the general formula R(2)P(S)SSP(S)R(2), where R = C(2)H(5), C(3)H(7), C(5)H(11), C(6)H(5) (I-IV) form coloured complexes of 1:3 stoichiometry with Pd(II). The absorption maxima and molar absorptivities are: a lambda(I) = 302 nm, epsilon(I) = 2.04 x 10(4) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1); lambda(II) = 305 nm, epsilon(II) = 2.58 x 10(4); lambda(III) = 303 nm, epsilon(III) = 2.60 x 10(4); lambda(IV) = 315 nm, epsilon(IV) = 3.25 x 10(4). The reaction takes about 3 min at room temperature, and the colour is stable for 24 hr. The influence of time, pH, reagent concentration, organic solvents and interferences have been studied. An extractive photometric method of determination of Pd(II) is described and applied to the determination of Pd(II) in a mixture of platinum metals.