The extraction and determination of disodium octaborate in Sitka spruce

Abstract

A method is described for the rapid determination of the boric acid equivalent of disodium octaborate tetrahydrate in Sitka spruce. The boroncontaining compounds are leached from thin sections of wood with sodium hydroxide solution and determined by the spectrophotometric measurement of the red complex formed between boric acid and curcumin.

The procedure is particularly useful for the study of the distribution of boron-containing preservatives in wood.