Spectrophotometric determination of the stability constant of the Eu(III)-murexide complex

The values of the stability constants of the Ca(II) and lanthanide(III) complexes of murexide reported in the literature were determined without proper correction for binding of buffer ions to the metal ion. The constants are best determined without a buffer present. Accurate values of conditional stability constants for the Eu(III)-murexide complex (relative standard deviation better than 3%), of the differential molar absorptivity of the Eu(III)-murexide complex with respect to murexide at 480 nm (relative standard deviation better than 0.5%) and of the molar absorptivity of murexide at 520 and at 506 nm (precision better than 0.4%) at pH 5.0 and 6.5 at 15, 25 and 35 degrees are reported. The accuracy and precision of the concentration of metal ion solution determined by using these conditional stability constants are discussed.