Preconcentration of cobalt with N-(dithiocarboxy)sarcosine and amberlite xad-4 resin

Cobalt reacts with N-(dithiocarboxy)sarcosine (DTCS) to form a 1:3 Co:DTCS complex which is so stable that after its formation no decomposition occurs even in 4M hydrochloric acid. The complex is sorbed on a column of Amberlite XAD-4 copolymer from an acidic solution and eluted with 10 ml of a 1:1:3 v v mixture of 1.0M ammonia solution (pH = 9), 0.1M EDTA and methanol. The absorbance of the eluted chelate is measured at 320 nm against water ( = 2.15 x 10(4) l.mole(-1).cm(-1)). The recovery of cobalt from 1 litre of tap-water or sea-water is quantitative. The effect of diverse ions can be eliminated by the addition of EDTA after chelation of the cobalt. The copper complex with DTCS is partly sorbed on the column because of its slow rate of decomposition by EDTA, but most of the copper chelate sorbed can be eluted with hydrochloric acid and any co-eluted with the cobalt chelate can be completely decomposed by heating the eluate. Cobalt enrichment factors of at least 100 are obtained, so the method is applicable to the determination of cobalt at the ng ml level.