EXTRACTION OF SUNSET YELLOW AND TARTRAZINE BY ION-PAIR FORMATION WITHADOGEN-464 AND THEIR SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION BY BIVARIATE CALIBRATION AND DERIVATIVE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

A simple extraction-spectrophotometric method for the determination of tartrazine (Tz) and Sunset Yellow (SY) in mixtures, based on the extr action of the ion pairs formed between the dyes and trioctylmethylammo nium chloride (Adogen-464) into toluene, is described. With the propos ed method, calibration graphs are linear up to 3.0 mu g ml(-1) for Tz and 3.6 mu g ml(-1) for SY. The bivariate calibration method was appli ed to the resolution of binary mixtures of the dyes and the results we re compared with those given by first-derivative spectrophotometry. Th e methods were applied to the determination of both compounds in comme rcially available food products.