Determination of nitrites by the formation of bisazo dye

A facile, sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of nitrite is presented. The method involves the reaction of nitrite with 4-aminoazobenzene under acidic conditions in the presence of a bromide ion allowing to complete the diazotization reaction almost instantaneously. The formed diazonium ion is then coupled with acetyl acetone to give bisazo dye in an aqueous alkaline medium having maximum absorption at 500 nm. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the method were found to be 4.2 x 10(4) dm(3) mol(-1)cm(-1) and 1.1 ng cm(-2), respectively. The system obeys the Beer's law within the concentration range of 0.1-9 mu g of nitrite in the final sample volume of 10 cm(3). Optimum reaction conditions were evaluated and the influence of ionic interference on the determination of nitrite has been studied. The developed method has been applied in the determination of nitrite in water and soil samples, and the results were statistically evaluated.