Rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of monofluorophosphate

Abstract

A method is described for the rapid spectrophotometric determination of orthophosphate in the presence of monofluorophosphate. Subsequent acid hydrolysis of monofluorophosphate enables this ion to be determined in the same sample. The technique is based on a single-reagent modification of the molybdophosphovanadate procedure. Using this method as described it is possible to determine up to 0.5 mg of phosphorus but this can be extended to 1.8 mg of phosphorus using an alternative procedure. Free phosphorus can be determined in the presence of up to a 50-fold excess of monofluorophosphate. The method is especially well suited for following hydrolysis reactions of monofluorophosphate.