Investigations of anthranilic acid-based azo dyes as chemical detectors for Pb2+

Abstract

We have explored the use of azo compounds synthesized from anthranilic acid and natural phenols for the detection of lead(II) ions. These azo compounds, in their deprotonated form, bind to lead ions through the carboxylate and a nitrogen atom of the azo group. In some cases, visual detection is sufficient to verify the presence of Pb2+ ion. Spectrophotometric analyses of solutions of the uncoordinated dyes and their Pb2+ complexes were also compared