Flow-injection spectrophotometry of vanadium by catalysis of the bromate oxidation of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxyl-3-sulfopropyl)-tolidine

A highly sensitive flow-injection method is proposed for the catalytic determination of vanadium(V) at sub-nanogram per milliliter levels using a new indicator reaction. The method is based on the catalytic effect of vanadium(V) on the bromate oxidation of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxyl-3-sulfopropyl)-tolidine. 1,2-Dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonate was used as an activator in the vanadium(V)-catalyzed reaction and significantly enhanced the sensitivity of the method. Vanadium(V) in the range 0.01–3.0 ng ml−1 was easily determined with sampling rate of about 30 h−1. Vanadium(IV) could be also determined. The limit of detection (S/N=3) was 0.008 ng ml−1 and the relative standard deviations were 1.4 and 1.6% for ten determinations of 0.2 ng ml−1 vanadium(IV) and vanadium(V), respectively. Interferences from metal ions could be suppressed by the addition of ethylenediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(methylenephosphonic acid) as a masking agent. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of vanadium in water samples.