A catalytic method for the determination of ruthenium

Abstract

A method is outlined for the determination of ruthenium based on its catalysis of the periodate oxidation of the tris(1,10-phenanthroline)iron(II) complex. This reaction has been used to detect 10^–10M ruthenium and to determine 10^–9 to 2 × 10^–8M ruthenium, with a coefficient of variation of 4·8 per cent. The interference effects of various ions have been studied and the method is shown to have only three serious interferences, iridium, osmium and rhenium. The sensitivity attained compares favourably with other similar methods by which ruthenium can be determined.