Liquid-Liquid Extraction and Spectrophotometric Determination of Cu (II) using 5-Nitrosalicylaldehyde semicarbazone (NSS) as an Analytical Reagent

5-nitrosalicylaldehyde semicarbazone (NSS) is proposed as a new sensitive reagent for the sensitive extractive spectrophotometric determination of Cu (II). NSS reacts with Cu (II) in the pH range 8.0–8.4 to form a coloured complex, which was well extracted into Iso Amyl Alcohol. The absorption spectrum of Cu (II) NSS complex in Iso Amyl Alcohol shows maximum absorbance at 409 nm. It was observed that the colour development was instantaneous and stable for 72 hrs. The system obeyed Beer's law up to 1–3 μg/cm3. The molar absorptivity calculated was found to be 6.232 * 104 lit mol-1 cm-1 and the sensitivity of the method as defined by sandal's was 2.345 * 10-2 μg/cm2. The composition of the extracted species was determined by Job's Continuous variation method and Mole ratio method was found to be 1:4. It may be satisfactorily applied for the determination of Cu (II) with present method.