Spectrofluorimetric determination of trace amounts of molybdenum in pig liver and mussels Original Research Article

A new fluorescent reagent, 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydene-8-aminoquinoline (HNAAQ), was synthesized. The fluorescent reaction of this reagent with molybdenum was studied. Based on this chelation, a highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric method was developed for determination of trace amounts of molybdenum in a water–ethanol (4:1 v/v) medium at pH 9.2. Under these conditions, the Mo-HNAAQ complex has excitation and emission maxima at 402 and 450 nm, respectively. The linear range of the method is from 0 to 30 μg l−1 and the 3σ detection limit is 83 ng l−1 of molybdenum. Interference of other ions was studied. It is necessary to remove the interfering cations through cation exchange. The procedure can easily be carried out and affords good precision and accuracy. This method has been successfully applied to the determination of molybdenum in pig liver and mussels.