Spectrophotometry

Ultraviolet spectrophotometry was employed to investigate the adsorption of phenylphosphonic acid onto the surface of alumina from aqueous solution. It was found that an initial chemisorption occurred with monolayer coverage, reaching a maximum at a solution pH of 3.0. The results were interpreted as indicating that this and related adsorptions are controlled by ligand exchange processes involving electrostatic attraction between oppositely-charged species. In a separate project, high performance liquid chromatography was employed for the quantitative analysis of aminophylline in commercial thigh cream formulations. The analysis required derivatization of the compound by dansylation under carefully-controlled conditions. This enhanced its detection and separation from other cream components.

An inexpensive visible range spectrophotometer of good
instructional value is prepared as a means of introducing
instrumental analysis to the high school chemistry curriculum.
Design and details of construction of the spectrophotometer
are presented and five standard spectrophotometric experiments
are adapted for high school chemistry. The five experiments
are used to correlate results obtained with the inexpensive
spectrophotometer to those obtained with a commercial
spectrophotometer, the Bausch and Lomb Spectronic 20.