A simple method for determining water content in organic solvents based on cobalt(II) complexes

A method to determine water, content in organic solvents was developed based on the color change of cobalt(II) nitrate in different solvents. The color-change mechanism and optimal conditions for determining the water content were investigated. The results showed that there was a good linear relationships between the absorbance of cobalt(II) complexes in organic solvents and water contents with gamma in 0.9989 similar to 40.9994. This method has the advantages of low cost, good reproducibility, good sensitivity, simple in operation, fast in detection, friendly to the environment and no limitation on linear range for determining water content. It was used to determine water in samples with a satisfactory recovery in 97.81%similar to 101.24%. (C) 2010 Hai Xin Bai. Published by Elsevier BA,. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.