Flow-injection photometric determination of manganese(II) based on its catalysis of the periodate oxidation of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)tolidine

A novel flow-injection spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of manganese(II) at sub-nanogram/ml levels. The method is based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)tolidine (HSPT) by periodate. The catalytic effect of manganese(II) was enhanced by the presence of 2,2′-bipyridine as an activator. By monitoring the change in absorbance of the oxidation product of HSPT at 670 nm, manganese(II) ranging 0.02–3.0 ng ml−1 could be determined with the relative standard deviations of less than 2%. The interfering ions were effectively suppressed by the addition of 2,2′-iminodiethanol and citric acid. The proposed method is directly applicable to the determination of manganese in lake and river water samples.