2-benzylpyridine as a chromogenic reagent for the micro determination of molybdenum and its application 40 steel samples

A simple, rapid and interference free spectrophotometric method for the det ermination of micro amounts of molybdenum (V) is reported The method is bas ed on the quantitative extraction of Mo(V) by 0.05 M 2-benzylpyridine (BPy) solution in benzene from 3 M HCl solution containing 1 M thiocyanate and 0 .4 M ascorbic acid The maximum absorption of Mo(V)-SCN-BPY complex in benze ne occurs at 470 ma The Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range 0.2 -2 mug/g. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the benzene e xtracted complex is 1.76x10(4) M-1 cm(-1) and 5.4x10(-4) mug cm(-2) respect ively. The effect of foreign ions has been studied. The method permits the determination of molybdenum in presence of commonly associated elements.