SEPARATION OF GOLD FROM CU, PT, PD, NI, ZN, CD AND HG USING TRIPHENYLARSINE OXIDE AS AN EXTRACTANT

A method is developed for extraction of gold(III) (75-300 mu g) from h ydrochloric acid solution with triphenylarsine oxide dissolved in tolu ene as extractant. Gold(III) is determined spectrophotometrically with stannous chloride. The extraction is quantitative from 1.5-1.9 M hydr ochloric acid with 0.25% triphenylarsine oxide and an equilibration pe riod of 30 s. The method permits separation of gold(III) from Cu(II), Pt(IV), Pd(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) and its spectrophoto metric determination in ayurvedic medicines. The recovery and relative standard deviation obtained are >99.0% and <1.0%.