Direct and derivative spectrophotometric determination of mercury (II) using diacetylmonoxime benzoylhydrazone (DMBH).

A simple and derivative spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of mercury (II) using Diacetylmonoxime benzoylhydrazone (DMBH). Mercury (II) forms an orange coloured water soluble complex with the reagent in basic medium (pH 10.5).The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity of coloured species are 2.01 x 104 L.mol-1 cm-1 and 0.0099 mg/cm2 respectively. Beer’s law is obeyed in the range 1.0029 – 12.0354 mg/ml of Hg (II) at lmax 361 nm. The developed derivative spectrophotometric method was employed for the determination of mercury (II). This method has been satisfactorily applied for the determination of mercury (II) in different environmental water samples and biological samples.