Use of an Aqueous Micellar Medium to Improve the Spectrophotometry Determination of Cyanide Ion with 5,5′-Dithiobis(2-Nitrobenzoic Acid)

Abstract

The spectrophotometric method for the determination of cyanide, which is based on the reaction of cyanide ion with 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) to displace the corresponding absorbing thiol anion, has been reinvestigated using an aqueous cetyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar reaction medium. The rate of the analytical reaction is increased considerably in the presence of the cationic surfactant. Thus, the time required for the spectrophotometric determination of cyanide ion in the 0.18 – 2.80 μg/ml range using this procedure is decreased from 25 minutes to 1 – 3 minutes.