Analysis of copper(ii) using the ascorbate/oxygen system – a valuable undergraduate resource
Sean Tobin A , John Cassidy A * , Kevin Kurian B and Anthony Betts BA School of Chemical and BioPharmaceutical Sciences, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, Dublin D07 ADY7, Ireland.
B FOCAS Institute, Applied Electrochemistry Group, Technological University Dublin, Camden Row, Dublin D08 CKP1, Ireland.
Australian Journal of Chemistry 75(10) 835-838 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH22164
Submitted: 27 July 2022 Accepted: 11 October 2022 Published: 10 November 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.
Abstract
In deionised water, ascorbic acid (AH−), through oxidation by oxygen in the presence of copper(ii), was found to degrade with zero-order kinetics. The magnitude of the reaction rate varied directly with the copper(ii) concentration. At a higher pH (7.4), the same reaction was found to be pseudo-first order. Once again, the magnitude of the rate increased linearly with copper(ii) concentration at a micromolar level. Dissolved oxygen levels, in excess AH− and trace copper(ii), displayed similar kinetics under both conditions. Monitoring of either AH− levels or dissolved oxygen concentration was found to be a useful novel undergraduate practical laboratory for trace copper(ii) determination. Students can measure the kinetics for standards and their unknown copper solution and quantitate the unknown copper.
Keywords: analysis, ascorbic acid, copper, dissolved oxyget probe, kinetics, UV spectroscopy.
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