Spectrophotometric determination of ferbam [iron(III) dimethyl dithiocarbamate] in commercial sample and wheat grains after extraction of its bathophenanthroline tetraphenylborate complex into molten naphthalene

A procedure has been developed for the determination of iron(III) dimethyldithiocarbamate by converting it into a iron(III)-bathophenanthroline-tetraphenylborate complex, which was then extracted into molten naphthalene, and the absorbance was measured at 534 nm against a reagent blank. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range 0.4-20 microg mL(-)(1) in final solution. The method is sensitive and highly selective and is applied for the determination of ferbam in a commercial sample, in mixtures with various dithiocarbamates (ziram, zineb, maneb, etc.), and from wheat grains.