Potassium determination, interference

The reaction is a sensitive one, but is subject to a number of interferences. The solution must be free from large amounts of lead, thallium (I), copper, tin, arsenic, antimony, gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and from elements in sufficient quantity to colour the solution, e.g. nickel. Metals giving insoluble iodides must be absent, or present in amounts not yielding a precipitate. Substances which liberate iodine from potassium iodide interfere, for example iron(III) the latter should be reduced with sulphurous acid and the excess of gas boiled off, or by a 30 per cent solution of hypophosphorous acid. Chloride ion reduces the intensity of the bismuth colour. Separation of bismuth from copper can be effected by extraction of the bismuth as dithizonate by treatment in ammoniacal potassium cyanide solution with a 0.1 per cent solution of dithizone in chloroform if lead is present, shaking of the chloroform solution of lead and bismuth dithizonates with a buffer solution of pH 3.4 results in the lead alone passing into the aqueous phase. The bismuth complex is soluble in a pentan-l-ol-ethyl acetate mixture, and this fact can be utilised for the determination in the presence of coloured ions, such as nickel, cobalt, chromium, and uranium. 

Few elements interfere with the determination of sodium and potassium. Important interferences via ionization suppression from other alkali metals present in the sample are minimized as mentioned above. Interferences from high mineral acid concentrations on sodium and potassium absorption may be compensated for by matching sample and standard solutions with respect to acid type and concentration. For samples containing very high concentrations of sodium or potassium, the burner may be angled to reduce the need for excessive dilution. Alternatively the less sensitive (by a factor of about 150 for sodium and 200 for potassium) 330.24/330.30 nm (Na) and 404.41 nm (K) absorption lines may be employed. 

Sodium and Potassium. Sodium and potassium can be determined by either atomic emission or absorption. Large concentrations of sodium can interfere with the potassium determination in either of these methods. Excess sodium can be added to both the potassium standards and samples to minimize any variations in the samples. Proper positioning of the flame helps reduce sodium interference in atomic absorption. 

Possible applications of enzyme electrodes include the determination of urea in blood (Equation (20)) and for which the optimum pH is about 7 at which 99.7 per cent of the ammonia product exists as NH4 cation, the only form among the species generated that elicits a potential response from the Beckman cation-selective glass electrode. Any sodium or potassium ion interference introduced with the enzyme (or substrate) can easily be detected because of the large positive potential reading that it causes. In such instances Dowex 50 cation exchanger may be used to remove the interferences beforehand [372]. Average differences between the urea values in blood and urine as determined by the urea-urease electrode and a spectrophotometric technique were 2.8 and 2.3 per cent m/m, respectively [373]. 

A iridine traces in aqueous solution can be determined by reaction with 4-(p-nitroben25l)pyridine [1083-48-3] and potassium carbonate [584-08-7]. Quantitative determination is carried out by photometric measurement of the absorption of the blue dye formed (367,368). Alkylating reagents interfere in the determination. A iridine traces in the air can be detected discontinuously by absorption in Folin s reagent (l,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate) [2066-93-5] (369,370) with subsequent chloroform extraction and hplc analysis of the red dye formed (371,372). The detection limit is ca 0.1 ppm. Nitrogen-specific thermal ionisation detectors can be used for continuous monitoring of the ambient air. 

Bromide ndIodide. The spectrophotometric determination of trace bromide concentration is based on the bromide catalysis of iodine oxidation to iodate by permanganate in acidic solution. Iodide can also be measured spectrophotometricaHy by selective oxidation to iodine by potassium peroxymonosulfate (KHSO ). The iodine reacts with colorless leucocrystal violet to produce the highly colored leucocrystal violet dye. Greater than 200 mg/L of chloride interferes with the color development. Trace concentrations of iodide are determined by its abiUty to cataly2e ceric ion reduction by arsenous acid. The reduction reaction is stopped at a specific time by the addition of ferrous ammonium sulfate. The ferrous ion is oxidi2ed to ferric ion, which then reacts with thiocyanate to produce a deep red complex. 

When heated with pyrocatechol [720-80-9] copper powder, and alcohoHc sodium hydroxide, carbon tetrachloride gives a blue color that changes to red on addition of hydrochloric acid. This color reaction is not produced by chloroform. Quantitative analysis of carbon tetrachloride may be done by first decomposing the sample free of organic and inorganic chlorides, heating in a sealed tube with alcohoHc potash, and subsequently determining the potassium chloride formed as the silver haHde. The Zeiss interference refractometer has been used to determine the concentration of carbon tetrachloride vapor in air (36). 

Poloxamers are used primarily in aqueous solution and may be quantified in the aqueous phase by the use of compleximetric methods. However, a major limitation is that these techniques are essentially only capable of quantifying alkylene oxide groups and are by no means selective for poloxamers. The basis of these methods is the formation of a complex between a metal ion and the oxygen atoms that form the ether linkages. Reaction of this complex with an anion leads to the formation of a salt that, after precipitation or extraction, may be used for quantitation. A method reported to be rapid, simple, and consistently reproducible [18] involves a two-phase titration, which eliminates interferences from anionic surfactants. The poloxamer is complexed with potassium ions in an alkaline aqueous solution and extracted into dichloromethane as an ion pair with the titrant, tet-rakis (4-fluorophenyl) borate. The end point is defined by a color change resulting from the complexation of the indicator, Victoria Blue B, with excess titrant. The Wickbold [19] method, widely used to determine nonionic surfactants, has been applied to poloxamer type surfactants 120]. Essentially the method involves the formation in the presence of barium ions of a complex be-... 

Traces of many metals interfere in the determination of calcium and magnesium using solochrome black indicator, e.g. Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Hg, and Mn. Their interference can be overcome by the addition of a little hydroxylammonium chloride (which reduces some of the metals to their lower oxidation states), or also of sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide which form very stable cyanide complexes ( masking ). Iron may be rendered harmless by the addition of a little sodium sulphide. 

Discussion. This method is based upon the precipitation of lead chlorofluoride, in which the chlorine is determined by Volhard s method, and from this result the fluorine content can be calculated. The advantages of the method are, the precipitate is granular, settles readily, and is easily filtered the factor for conversion to fluorine is low the procedure is carried out at pH 3.6-5.6, so that substances which might be co-predpitated, such as phosphates, sulphates, chromates, and carbonates, do not interfere. Aluminium must be entirely absent, since even very small quantities cause low results a similar effect is produced by boron ( >0.05 g), ammonium (>0.5 g), and sodium or potassium ( > 10g) in the presence of about 0.1 g of fluoride. Iron must be removed, but zinc is without effect. Silica does not vitiate the method, but causes difficulties in filtration. 

Ammonium may be determined by predpitation with sodium tetraphenylborate as the sparingly soluble ammonium tetraphenylborate NH4[B(C6H5)4], using a similar procedure to that described for potassium it is dried at 100°C, For further details of the reagent, including interferences, notably potassium, rubidium, and caesium, see Section 11.38,... 

The determination of magnesium in potable water is very straightforward very few interferences are encountered when using an acetylene-air flame. The determination of calcium is however more complicated many chemical interferences are encountered in the acetylene-air flame and the use of releasing agents such as strontium chloride, lanthanum chloride, or EDTA is necessary. Using the hotter acetylene-nitrous oxide flame the only significant interference arises from the ionisation of calcium, and under these conditions an ionisation buffer such as potassium chloride is added to the test solutions. 

Colorimetric procedures used In steroid assays are often subject to drug Interference. In the determination of 17-Ketosterolds by the Zimmerman reaction, drugs with the 17-Keto basic structure such as ascorbic acid, morphine and reserplne will cause Increased values. In the determination of 17,21 -dlhydroxysterolds by the Porter-Sllber reaction the dlhydroxy-acetone chain Is the reactive unit. Drugs like meprobamate, chloral hydrate, chloropromazlne and potassium Iodide will Interfere with this reaction and cause elevated values. In the colorimetric determination of vanlllylmandellc acid (VMA) by a dlazo reaction, drugs like methocarbamol and methyl dopa cause... 

LaClair (43) has employed the dehydrohalogenation reaction to determine the gamma isomer of benzene hexachloride in the technical product and in dust mixtures. Two identical samples are dissolved in 95% ethyl alcohol and treated with 1 N ethanolic potassium hydroxide at 0° C. for 15 and 50 minutes, respectively. The 15-minute period is sufficient to dehydrochlorinate most of the alpha and the delta isomers without appreciably affecting the gamma. In 50 minutes the gamma isomer is also dehydrochlorinated. The beta isomer does not react under these conditions, and usually the epsilon isomer is present in quantities too small to interfere seriously. 

Especially sensitive and selective potassium and some other ion-selective electrodes employ special complexing agents in their membranes, termed ionophores (discussed in detail on page 445). These substances, which often have cyclic structures, bind alkali metal ions and some other cations in complexes with widely varying stability constants. The membrane of an ion-selective electrode contains the salt of the determined cation with a hydrophobic anion (usually tetraphenylborate) and excess ionophore, so that the cation is mostly bound in the complex in the membrane. It can readily be demonstrated that the membrane potential obeys Eq. (6.3.3). In the presence of interferents, the selectivity coefficient is given approximately by the ratio of the stability constants of the complexes of the two ions with the ionophore. For the determination of potassium ions in the presence of interfering sodium ions, where the ionophore is the cyclic depsipeptide, valinomycin, the selectivity coefficient is Na+ 10"4, so that this electrode can be used to determine potassium ions in the presence of a 104-fold excess of sodium ions. 

Vishwavidyalaya et al. [22] used a difference-spectrophotometric method for the estimation of primaquine phosphate in tablets. One portion of powdered tablets, equivalent to 7.5 mg of primaquine phosphate, was extracted with hydrochloric acid-potassium chloride buffer (pH 2) and a second portion was extracted with phosphate buffer (pH 10). Primaquine phosphate was determined from the difference in absorbance of the acid and alkaline extracts at 254.2 nm. The calibration graph was rectilinear from 2 to 14 pg/mL of primaquine phosphate. Recovery was 98.6% and no interference was observed from excipients. Results compared with those by the British Pharmacopoeial method. 

The potential developed is determined by the chloride concentration of the inner solution, as defined by the Nemst equation. As can been seen from the above reaction, the potential of the electrode remains constant as long as the chloride concentration remains constant. Potassium chloride is widely used for the inner solution because it does not generally interfere with pH measurements, and the mobility of the potassium and chloride ions is nearly equal. Thus, it minimizes liquid-junction potentials. The saturated potassium chloride is mainly used, but lower concentrations such as 1M potassium chloride can also be used. When the electrode is placed in a saturated potassium chloride solution, it develops a potential of 199 mV vs the standard hydrogen electrode. 

Sichere et al. [25] determined bromine concentrations in the 0.06-120mg/1 range in brines, directly by X-ray fluorescence using selenium as an internal standard to eliminate interference effects. Lower concentrations of bromine must be concentrated on filter paper containing an ion exchange resin. The same concentrations of chlorine can be determined with the addition of barium to reduce the interferences from carbonates and sulfates. Relative standard deviation was better than 1%. The interference of some other ions (e.g., calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, and iron) was examined. 

In another spectrophotometric procedure Motomizu [224] adds to the sample (2 litres) 40% (w/v) sodium citrate dihydrate solution (10 ml) and a 0.2% solution of 2-ethylamino-5-nitrosophenol in 0.01 M hydrochloric acid (20 ml). After 30 min, add 10% aqueous EDTA (10 ml) and 1,2-dichloroethane (20 ml), mechanically shake the mixture for 10 minutes, separate the organic phase and wash it successively with hydrochloric acid (1 2) (3 x 5 ml), potassium hydroxide (5 ml), and hydrochloric acid (1 2) (5 ml). Filter, and measure the extinction at 462 nm in a 50 mm cell. Determine the reagent blank by adding EDTA solution before the citrate solution. The sample is either set aside for about 1 day before analysis (the organic extract should then be centrifuged), or preferably it is passed through a 0.45 xm membrane-filter. The optimum pH range for samples is 5.5 - 7.5. From 0.07 to 0.12 p,g/l of cobalt was determined there is no interference from species commonly present in seawater. 

Polarography has also been applied to the determination of potassium in seawater [535]. The sample (1 ml) is heated to 70 °C and treated with 0.1 M sodium tetraphenylborate (1 ml). The precipitated potassium tetraphenylborate is filtered off, washed with 1% acetic acid, and dissolved in 5 ml acetone. This solution is treated with 3 ml 0.1 M thallium nitrate and 1.25 ml 2M sodium hydroxide, and the precipitate of thallium tetraphenylborate is filtered off. The filtrate is made up to 25 ml, and after de-aeration with nitrogen, unconsumed thallium is determined polarographically. There is no interference from 60 mg sodium, 0.2 mg calcium or magnesium, 20 pg barium, or 2.5 pg strontium. Standard eviations at concentrations of 375, 750, and 1125 pg potassium per ml were 26.4, 26.9, and 30.5, respectively. Results agreed with those obtained by flame photometry. 

Crisp et al. [212] has described a method for the determination of non-ionic detergent concentrations between 0.05 and 2 mg/1 in fresh, estuarine, and seawater based on solvent extraction of the detergent-potassium tetrathiocyana-tozincate (II) complex followed by determination of extracted zinc by atomic AAS. A method is described for the determination of non-ionic surfactants in the concentration range 0.05-2 mg/1. Surfactant molecules are extracted into 1,2-dichlorobenzene as a neutral adduct with potassium tetrathiocyanatozin-cate (II), and the determination is completed by AAS. With a 150 ml water sample the limit of detection is 0.03 mg/1 (as Triton X-100). The method is relatively free from interference by anionic surfactants the presence of up to 5 mg/1 of anionic surfactant introduces an error of no more than 0.07 mg/1 (as Triton X-100) in the apparent non-ionic surfactant concentration. The performance of this method in the presence of anionic surfactants is of special importance, since most natural samples which contain non-ionic surfactants also contain anionic surfactants. Soaps, such as sodium stearate, do not interfere with the recovery of Triton X-100 (1 mg/1) when present at the same concentration (i.e., mg/1). Cationic surfactants, however, form extractable nonassociation compounds with the tetrathiocyanatozincate ion and interfere with the method. 

McCracken et al. 164) compared atomic absorption with the tetraphenyl-boron method for determining potassium in 1190 fertilizers, and very close agreement was found between the two methods. Hoover and Reagor 16S) also found good agreement between the two methods, and atomic absorption was far more rapid. They reported that the 7665 A potassium line was more subject to interference than the less sensitive 4044 A line. Temperli and Misteli 166> reported far better results for low concentrations of potassium in soil extracts by atomic absorption spectroscopy than by flame emission spectroscopy. 

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