Spectrophotometric study of coproporphyrin-I complexes of copper(II) and cobalt(II).

The reagent 3,8,13,18-tetramethyl-21H,23H-porphine-2,7,12,17-tetrapropionic acid or coproporphyrin-I (CPI) was used for the spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) and cobalt(II) in the presence of pyridine and imidazole catalysts. Optimum conditions were investigated and the methods were applied to the determination of parts per billion levels of copper(II) and cobalt(II). The Sandell sensitivities of the recommended procedures were 0.568 mum cm(-2) and 0.464 mug cm(-2) (for A = 0.001) for copper and cobalt, respectively. The relative standard deviations were 2.0% for copper and 1.0% for cobalt. The kinetics of the reaction of CPI with copper(II) and cobalt(II) in the presence of the catalysts and the influence of the temperature were studied, and their kinetic constants determined. The influence of light on the photodecomposition of CPI was also studied.