The use of 7,7',8,8'-tetracyanoquinodimethane for the spectrophotometric determination of some primary amines application to real water samples.

A sensitive, simple, and accurate spectrophotometric method was developed for the quantitative determination of some primary aliphatic and aromatic amines, that is, ethylamine, 1,2-diaminopropane, aniline, p-aminophenol, and benzidine. The method is based on the interaction of these amines in aqueous medium with 7,7',8,8'-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) reagent in the presence of a buffer solution and surfactant (in the case of aromatic amines) to form charge-transfer complexes measurable at maximum wavelengths ranging between 323 and 511 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration ranges of 0.025 and 3.0  μ g/mL and the molar absorptivity is ranged between 8.977 × 10(3) and 5.8034 × 10(4)  L · mol(-1) · cm(-1) for these amines. The method was applied for the determination of benzidine in the river, sea, and tap waters. The TCNQ complexes with the previously mentioned amines were formed in the ratio of 1 : 1 amine : TCNQ, and their stability constants ranged between 8.78 × 10(4) and 1.844 × 10(5) L · mol(-1).