Spectrophotometric determination of Isoproturon and Metoxuron using ethylacetoacetate and application to technical...

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of Isoproturon and Metoxuron is described based on alkaline hydrolysis of the compounds to their corresponding primary amines, followed by diazotization and coupling with ethylacetoacetate in alkaline medium. The chromogenic species obeys Beer's law up to 15 and 9 mug ml(-1) for Isoproturon and Metoxuron respectively. The method is successfully applied for technical and formulation samples with RSD in the ranges 0.48-0.72, 0.86-1.32 and 0.66-0.74, 0.27-0.69 for technical and formulation grade samples of Isoproturon and Metoxuron respectively. The advantages over the earlier methods are discussed.