Spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum with Syzygium jambolanum DC leaf extracts

A novel spectrophotometric method for the determination of molybdenum (Mo) in industrial materials has been developed using the leaf extract of Syzygium jambolanum DC based on the reaction of Mo (VI) at pH 7.0 to produce an orange–yellow complex with an absorption maximum at 426 nm. The molar absorptivity of the complex is 4.27 × 104 l mol–1 cm–1 and the absorption is linear in the range 0.05–1.0 ppm. Sandell sensitivity coefficient was found to be 2.25 × 10–3 μg/cm2. The method is ten times more sensitive than the aqueous thiocyanate system. It has been applied successfully in micronutrient fertilizer, artificial freshwater and sea-water analyses.