Complexometric analysis

While the role of acid-base indicators in acidimetric titrations has been surpassed by more advanced, automatic, potentiometric methods various metallochromic indicators are still in use in complexometric analysis. Here we shall deal only with acid-base indicators. 

Common chemical titrations include acid-base, oxidation-reduction, precipitation, and complexometric analysis. The basic concepts underlying all titration are illustrated by classic acid-base titrations. A known amount of acid is placed in a flask and an indicator added. The indicator is a compound whose color depends on the pH of its environment. A solution of base of precisely known concentration (referred to as the titrant) is then added to the acid until all of the acid has just been reacted, causing the pH of the solution to increase and the color of the indicator to change. The volume of the base required to get to this point in the titration is known as the end point of the titration. The concentration of the acid present in the original solution can be calculated from the volume of base needed to reach the end point and the known concentration of the base. 

For a theoretical discussion of complexometric analysis the reader is recommended to Schwarzenbach s book a useful short account of the subject has been given by Pribil and for a recent account of practical considerations reference should be made to the monograph of West and Sykes,... 

Now that we know something about EDTA s chemical properties, we are ready to evaluate its utility as a titrant for the analysis of metal ions. To do so we need to know the shape of a complexometric EDTA titration curve. In Section 9B we saw that an acid-base titration curve shows the change in pH following the addition of titrant. The analogous result for a titration with EDTA shows the change in pM, where M is the metal ion, as a function of the volume of EDTA. In this section we learn how to calculate the titration curve. We then show how to quickly sketch the titration curve using a minimum number of calculations. 

The scale of operations, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, time, and cost of methods involving redox titrations are similar to those described earlier in the chapter for acid-base and complexometric titrimetric methods. As with acid-base titrations, redox titrations can be extended to the analysis of mixtures if there is a significant difference in the ease with which the analytes can be oxidized or reduced. Figure 9.40 shows an example of the titration curve for a mixture of Fe + and Sn +, using Ce + as the titrant. The titration of a mixture of analytes whose standard-state potentials or formal potentials differ by at least 200 mV will result in a separate equivalence point for each analyte. 

The concentration of cyanide, CN, in a copper electroplating bath can be determined by a complexometric titration with Ag+, forming the soluble Ag(CN)2 complex. In a typical analysis a 5.00-mL sample from an electroplating bath is transferred to a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask, and treated with 100 mL of H2O, 5 mL of 20% w/v NaOH, and 5 mL of 10% w/v Kl. The sample is titrated with 0.1012 M AgN03, requiring 27.36 mL to reach the end point as signaled by the formation of a yellow precipitate of Agl. Report the concentration of cyanide as parts per million of NaCN. 

The analysis of low-melting alloys such as Wood s metal is greatly simplified by complexometric titration, and tedious gravimetric separations are avoided. The alloy is treated with concentrated nitric acid, evaporated to a small volume, and after dilution the precipitated tin(IV) oxide is filtered off heavy metals adsorbed by the precipitate are removed by washing with a known volume of standard EDTA solution previously made slightly alkaline with aqueous... 

Braun and Richter [923] have described an application of CE in additive analysis, namely quantitative analysis of heat stabilisers in PVC, such as Irgastab 17A and 18 MOK-N, which are metal-based (in the past usually Cd, Ba and Pb, now nontoxic Ca, Zn and Sn). Quantitative metal analysis is of interest for PVC recycling purposes. Various alternative approaches are possible for such quantitative analysis, such as XRF [924], polarog-raphy [925] and AAS [923], The performance of AAS, CE and complexometric titrations in the analysis of the heavy metal content in PVC was compared [923]. For all methods investigated the metals must be separated from the polymer and transferred into an aqueous phase. 

Applications Quantitative dry ashing (typically at 800 °C to 1200°C for at least 8h), followed by acid dissolution and subsequent measurement of metals in an aqueous solution, is often a difficult task, as such treatment frequently results in loss of analyte (e.g. in the cases of Cd, Zn and P because of their volatility). Nagourney and Madan [20] have compared the ashing/acid dissolution and direct organic solubilisation procedures for stabiliser analysis for the determination of phosphorous in tri-(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)phosphite. Dry ashing is of limited value for polymer analysis. Crompton [21] has reported the analysis of Li, Na, V and Cu in polyolefins. Similarly, for the determination of A1 and V catalyst residues in polyalkenes and polyalkene copolymers, the sample was ignited and the ash dissolved in acids V5+ was determined photo-absorptiometrically and Al3+ by complexometric titration [22]. 

Applications Basic methods for the determination of halogens in polymers are fusion with sodium carbonate (followed by determination of the sodium halide), oxygen flask combustion and XRF. Crompton [21] has reported fusion with sodium bicarbonate for the determination of traces of chlorine in PE (down to 5 ppm), fusion with sodium bisulfate for the analysis of titanium, iron and aluminium in low-pressure polyolefins (at 1 ppm level), and fusion with sodium peroxide for the complexometric determination using EDTA of traces of bromine in PS (down to 100ppm). Determination of halogens in plastics by ICP-MS can be achieved using a carbonate fusion procedure, but this will result in poor recoveries for a number of elements [88]. A sodium peroxide fusion-titration procedure is capable of determining total sulfur in polymers in amounts down to 500 ppm with an accuracy of 5% [89]. 

Calcium-selective electrodes have long been in use for the estimation of calcium concentrations - early applications included their use in complexometric titrations, especially of calcium in the presence of magnesium (42). Subsequently they have found use in a variety of systems, particularly for determining stability constants. Examples include determinations for ligands such as chloride, nitrate, acetate, and malonate (mal) (43), several diazacrown ethers (44,45), and methyl aldofuranosides (46). Other applications have included the estimation of Ca2+ levels in blood plasma (47) and in human hair (where the results compared satisfactorily with those from neutron activation analysis) (48). Ion-selective electrodes based on carboxylic polyether ionophores are mentioned in Section IV.B below. Though calcium-selective electrodes are convenient they are not particularly sensitive, and have slow response times. 

Spectrophotometric analysis and complexometric titrations have long been used to determine calcium, with much effort devoted to developing reagents and indicators that permit the... 

For analysis in solutions, the most frequently used CL reaction is alkaline oxidation of luminol and lucigenin in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as oxidant, although sodium hypochlorite, sodium perborate, or potassium ferricyanide may also be used. CL reactions involving alkaline oxidation have been used to indicate acid-base, precipitation, redox, or complexometric titration endpoints either by the appearance or the quenching of CL when an excess of titrant is present [114, 134], An example of these mechanisms is shown in Figure 14. 

Titrations are veiy powerful techniques that contain two very different kinds of information and thus serve two different purposes (a) titrations are used for quantitative analytical applications, e.g. the determination of the concentration of an acid by an acid-base titration or the determination of a metal ion by a complexometric titration (b) titrations serve also as a method for the determination of equilibrium constants, e.g. the determination of the strength of the interaction between a metal ion and a ligand. Naturally, both objectives can be combined and the analysis of one titration can deliver both types of information. 

Only slightly less accurate ( 0.3—0.5%) and more versatile in scale are other titration techniques. Plutonium may be oxidized in aqueous solution to Pu02+2 using AgO, and then reduced to Pu4+ by a known excess of Fe+2, which is back-titrated with Ce4+. Pu4+ may be titrated complexometrically with EOT A and a colorimetric indicator such as Arsenazo(I), even in the presence of a large excess of U02+2. Solution spectrophotometry (Figs. 4 and 5) can be utilized if the plutonium oxidation state is known or controlled. The spectrophotometric method is very sensitive if a colored complex such as Arsenazo(III) is used. Analytically useful absorption maxima and molar absorption coefficients ( s) are given in Table 10. Laser photoacoustic spectroscopy has been developed for both elemental analysis and speciation (oxidation state) at concentrations of 10-4 — 10-5 M (118). Chemical extraction can also be used to enhance this technique. 

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) was introduced originally as a water-softener and as a textile dyeing assistant because of its ability to form very stable, water soluble complexes with many metal ions, including calcium and magnesium. The equilibria involved in chelation of metal ions by EDTA and related ligands have been exhaustively studied, notably by G. Schwarzenbach and his colleagues, and provide the basis for complexometric methods of chemical analysis. EDTA and its metal complexes have also become probably the most familiar examples of agents used in chelation therapy. 

A complexometric titration is a rapid, accurate, and inexpensive method to analyze metal ions. However, its application in metal analysis in environmental samples is very much limited, because the more common atomic absorption/emis-sion spectrometry method gives a lower detection limit. 

Titration — A process for quantitative analysis in which measured increments of a - titrant are added to a solution of an - analyte until the reaction between the analyte and titrant is considered as complete at the - end point [i]. The aim of this process is to determine the amount of an analyte in a -> sample. In addition, the determination can involve the measurement of one or several physical and/or chemical properties from which a relationship between the measured parameter/s and the concentration of the analyte is established. It is also feasible to measure the amount of a - titrand that is added to react with a fixed volume of titrant. In both cases, the -> stoichiometry of the reaction must be known. Additionally, there has to be a means such as a -> titration curve or an - indicator to recognize that the -> end point has been reached. The nature of the reaction between the titrant and the analyte is commonly indicated by terms like acid-base, complexometric, redox, precipitation, etc. [ii]. Titrations can be performed by addition of measured volume/mass increments of a solution,... 

Complexometric titration methods of analysis of rare earth elements. 

Some qualitative analytical reagents for the detection of rare earths elements are given in Tables 1.26 and 1.27. Gravimetric, volumetric, complexometric, precipitation and polarographic methods of analysis of rare earths are summarized in Tables 1.28 to 1.32. 

Simple inorganic ions and molecules like NH3, CN , Cl-, H20 form monodentate ligands, that is one ion or molecule occupies one of the spaces available around the central ion in the coordination sphere, but bidentate (like the dipyridyl ion), tridentate, and also tetradentate ligands are known. Complexes made of polydentate ligands are often called chelates, the name originating from the Greek word for the claw of the crab, which bites into an object like the polydentate ligand catches the central ion. The formation of chelate complexes is used extensively in quantitative chemical analysis (complexometric titrations). ... 

Oxyacids, like citric or tartaric acids, and polyols, like saccharose are also used, mainly as masking agents, in qualitative analysis. The action of some specific reagents, like oc-a -bipyridyl for iron(II) and dimethylglyoxime for nickel(II), is also based on the formation of chelate complexes. In quantitative analysis the formation of chelates is frequently utilized (complexometric titrations). ... 

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