Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric Determination of Copper(I) After Extraction of Its Ternary Complex with 3-(4-Phenyl-2-pyridyl)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine and Tetraphenylborate into Molten Naphthalene

A preferable atomic absorption spectrophotometric method has been established for trace determination of copper(I) via extraction of its ion-associated complex with 3-(4-phenyl-2-pyridyl)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine and tetraphenylborate into molten naphthalene. The optimum pH range for the extraction is 1.6–8.2. Solid naphthalene containing the copper(I) complex is separated by filtration and dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide. The absorbance is measured at 324.7 nm. Beer’s law is obeyed in the concentration range 2.5–80 μg of copper in 10 cm3 N,N-dimethylformamide solution. Ten repeat analyses on a sample containing 35 μg of copper give a mean absorbance of 0.205 with a standard deviation of 0.0017 and a relative standard deviation of 0.83%. The method has been successfully applied to determination of copper in standard reference materials and biological samples.