Prediction and measurement of effect of chelating selectivity on precipitation reactions.
A theoretical treatment of precipitation equilibrium in the presence of a chelating agent has been expanded to include the common ion effect on precipitation reactions. The extent of precipitation can be predicted over the full range of pH for any metal for which the solubility product of the precipitate and the stability constants for a complex are known. The expanded equation has been used in this investigation to predict the extent of precipitation for several metals in the presence of ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) with common précipitants such as hydroxide, oxalate, sulphate, sulphide and 8-hydroxyquinoline, but may be applied to any system containing other chelating agents. The limits of precipitation in terms of pM', the negative logarithm of the concentration of unprecipitated metal ion, are presented graphically as a function of pH for a system containing axed amounts of precipitating and complexing agents. Measurements for observed reactions at two pH levels, 5 and 10, are compared with the calculated predictions of the equation. Thirty-five metals were investigated.
Kelly
J J
JJ
Health and Safety Laboratory, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Sutton
D C
DC