A simple flow injection spectrophotometric procedure for iron(III) determination using Phyllanthus emblica Linn. as a natural reagent

• Published in: Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, 2018-11, Vol.204, p.726-734
• Main Authors: Jaikrajang, Natta, Kruanetr, Senee, Harding, David J., Rattanakit, Parawee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Flow injection analysis; Green chemistry; Iron(III); Natural reagent; Phyllanthus emblica Linn; Spectrophotometry
• ISSN: 1386-1425
• DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2018.06.109

The use of natural reagents from plant extracts for chemical analysis is one approach in the development of green analytical chemistry methodology. In this work, a natural reagent extracted from Phyllanthus emblica Linn. has been applied for the determination of iron(III) using a simple flow injection spectrophotometric method. The method was based on the measurement of a dark-purple complex formed by the reaction between iron(III) and the extracted solution in an acetate buffer (pH 5.6) at 570 nm. Under the optimum conditions, a linear calibration graph in the range of 0.50–20.0 mg L−1 iron(III) was obtained with a correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.9996. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.31 and 0.50 mg L−1, respectively. The relative standard deviation was less than 2.50%. The proposed method was successfully applied for quantitative analysis of iron(III) in pharmaceutical preparations and water samples with a sampling rate of 90 samples h−1. The results are in good agreement with those obtained by the official ICP-OES technique at the 95% confidence level. The presented method provides a simple, cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach which is suitable and useful for determining iron(III). Therefore, it can be considered as an alternative analytical technique in green chemistry. [Display omitted] •Natural reagent extracted from Phyllanthus emblica Linn. was utilized as an alternative reagent for iron(III) determination.•The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were found to be 0.31 mg L-1 and 0.50 mg L-1, respectively.•The FIA system was used as a tool for measuring iron(III) in order to minimize chemical consumption and waste production.•Determining iron(III) content in the pharmaceutical and water samples were obtained under green chemistry approach.