Second derivative spectrophotometric determination of iron by extraction of the ferroin—perchlorate ion-association complex into mesityl oxide

A highly selective and sensitive second-derivative spectrophotometric determination of iron is based on the extraction of the ferroin—perchlorate ion-association complex into mesityl oxide. A linear calibration graph is obtained for iron in the range 0.5–50 μg in 100 ml of original aqueous phase, with a detection limit of 2 ng/ml. The method is precise and reliable and has been applied to the determination of iron in high-purity rare-earth oxides.