Spectrophotometric determination of iron with 1-hydroxy-4-sulpho-2-naphthoic acid

1-Hydroxy-4-sulpho-2-naphthoic acid (H(3)L) is proposed as a spectrophotometric reagent for determination of iron. It gives a red-brown chelate, FeL(6-)(3), with lambda(max) 500-520 nm at pH 8 ( = 3.3 x 10(3) l. mole(-1). cm(-1)). In this wavelength region the reagent has no absorption. Most common cations and oxo-anions do not interfere. In the determination of iron in polymetallic iron ores and aluminium alloys the relative error and relative standard deviation of the method were found to be better than 1 and 0.5%, respectively. 1-Hydroxy-4-sulpho-2-naphthoic acid seems to be a more sensitive and accurate reagent for iron than 5-sulphosalicylic acid, and the number of interfering ions is smaller than in the 1,10-phenanthroline or thiocyanate methods.