Spectrophotometric Determination of Nitrite in Aqueous Solution by the Diazotization-Coupling Method with Orthanilic Acid-Resorcinol

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Abstract
A spectrophotometric method for the determination of nitrite is described. It relies upon the reaction of this ion with an acidified orthanilic acid solution to form a diazonium ion, which is subsequently coupled with resorcinol, in alkaline medium, to form immediately a yellow-colored stable water-soluble and intense azo dye having maximum absorption at 426 nm. The linear absorbance plot with concentration indicates that Beer's law is obeyed over the range of 1-12 μg of nitrite in a final volume of 10ml, with a molar absorptivity of 38.7 × 1031 mol−1cm−1, sensitivity index of 0.0012μgcm−3, relative error of –0.5 to +0.2% and relative standard deviation of 0.43-3.5%, depending on the concentration level. The optimum conditions affecting and related to the color reaction and interference due to foreign ions have been studied.