Spectrophotometric Determination of Spermine and Related Compounds Using o-Hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein and Manganese(II)

Abstract

A simple and highly sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of spermine (Spm) was established based on the ternary complex formation reaction of Spm with o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein (QP) as a xanthene dye and manganese(II) as a metal ion in the presence of a dispersion agent. The apparent molar absorptivity at 555 nm and the relative standard deviation of the proposed method were 1.4 × 10⁵ dm³ mol^-1 cm^-1 and 0.50% (n = 10), respectively. In the method for flow-injection analysis (FIA), which employs a single-channel flow manifold system, a good linear relationship was observed over the 2 - 20 pg µl^-1 range of Spm by direct injection.