IChO 1996 · Theory problem 2

Detection limit for bismuth: gravimetric and multiplicative methods

The detection limit is one of the basic parameters in quantitative analysis of trace amounts of elements. The detection limit is expressed as the least mass of an element which can be determined by a given method with a given accuracy.

As an example we shall consider the method used for the determination of microscopic amounts of bismuth. In 1927 German chemist Berg suggested to precipitate bismuth as a practically insoluble salt: 8-hydroxyquinolinium tetraiodobismuthate \(\ce{[C9H6(OH)NH][BiI4]}\) (\(M_r = 862.7\)).

2.1 a) Draw the structural formulae of the cation and anion of this salt.

b) What is the oxidation state of \(\ce{Bi}\) atom in this compound?

2.2 Evaluate the smallest mass of bismuth (in mg), which can be determined reliably by Berg method, if the smallest mass of precipitate which can be reliably measured is 50.0 mg.

For the determination of trace amounts of bismuth R. Belcher and co-workers from Birmingham developed a multiplicative method. According to this method a chain of reactions followed by a titration of the final product is carried out. A detailed description follows.

Step 1: To a given small amount (\(\approx 2\ \mathrm{cm^3}\)) of cold acidified solution containing trace amounts of \(\ce{Bi^3+}\) 50 mg of potassium hexathiocyanatochromate(III) (\(\ce{K3[Cr(SCN)6]}\)) is added in the cold, that leads to practically quantitative precipitation of bismuth.

2.3 Write a balanced net ionic equation of this reaction.

Step 2: The precipitate is filtered off, washed by cold water, and treated with \(5\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of 10 % solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate. Upon this treatment the initial precipitate transforms into the precipitate of oxobismuth(III) carbonate \(\ce{(BiO)2CO3}\) with liberation of hexathiocyanatochromate(III) ions into solution.

2.4 Write a balanced net ionic equation of this reaction.

Step 3: To the slightly acidified filtrate transferred to a separatory funnel \(0.5\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of saturated iodine solution in chloroform are added, and the mixture is vigorously shaken. Iodine oxidizes the ligand of the complex ion to \(\ce{ICN}\) and sulphate ion.

2.5 Write a balanced net ionic equation of this reaction.

Step 4: Upon 5 minutes \(4\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of 2 M \(\ce{H2SO4}\) solution are added to the mixture. The acidification leads to the reaction of coproportionation with the evolution of molecular iodine.

2.6 Write a balanced net ionic equation of the reaction occurred on acidification.

Step 5: Iodine is quantitatively extracted by 4 portions of chloroform. Aqueous layer is transferred to a flask, to which \(1\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of bromine water is added, and the mixture is mixed for 5 minutes.

2.7 Write the balanced net ionic equations of the reactions occurred upon the addition of bromine water. Note that an excess of bromine can react with hydrogen cyanide to give \(\ce{BrCN}\), and iodide is oxidized into \(\ce{IO3^-}\).

Step 6: To eliminate an excess of molecular bromine \(3\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of 90 % methanoic (formic) acid is added to the mixture.

2.8 Write a balanced net ionic equation of this reaction.

Step 7: To the slightly acidic solution an excess (1.5 g) of potassium iodide is added.

2.9 Write the balanced net ionic equations of the reactions occurred upon the addition of \(\ce{KI}\), taking into consideration that iodide reacts with \(\ce{BrCN}\) in a similar manner as with \(\ce{ICN}\) to form molecular iodine.

Step 8: The resulting solution is titrated by a standard 0.00200 M \(\ce{Na2S2O3}\) solution. The results thus obtained are used to calculate the content of bismuth in the sample taken for analysis.

2.10 a) How many moles of thiosulphate are equivalent to 1 mol of bismuth in the initial sample?

b) What is the least mass of bismuth which can be determined by this method (assume that reliable determination requires no less than \(1\ \mathrm{cm^3}\) of standard 0.00200 M \(\ce{Na2S2O3}\) solution)?

2.11 By how many times the multiplicative method just described is more sensitive than Berg’s gravimetric method?

Official English text of the problem.

Answers

  • 2.1(a) Cation: 8-hydroxyquinolinium, \(\ce{C9H8NO+}\), Oc1cccc2ccc[nH+]c12: quinoline protonated at its ring nitrogen, with an \(\ce{OH}\) group at position 8. Anion: tetraiodobismuthate(III), \(\ce{[BiI4]^-}\), [Bi-](I)(I)(I)I: central Bi bonded to four iodine atoms, with overall charge \(-1\).
  • 2.1(b) The oxidation state of Bi is \(+3\).
  • 2.2 \(\boxed{12.1\ \mathrm{mg\ Bi}}\).
  • 2.3 \[ \ce{Bi^3+ + [Cr(SCN)6]^3- -> Bi[Cr(SCN)6](s)} \]
  • 2.4 \[ \ce{2Bi[Cr(SCN)6](s) + 6HCO3^- -> (BiO)2CO3(s) + 2[Cr(SCN)6]^3- + 5CO2 + 3H2O} \]
  • 2.5 \[ \ce{[Cr(SCN)6]^3- + 24I2 + 24H2O -> Cr^3+ + 6ICN + 6SO4^2- + 42I^- + 48H+} \]
  • 2.6 \[ \ce{ICN + I^- + H+ -> I2 + HCN} \]
  • 2.7 \[ \ce{I^- + 3Br2 + 3H2O -> IO3^- + 6Br^- + 6H+} \] \[ \ce{HCN + Br2 -> BrCN + Br^- + H+} \]
  • 2.8 \[ \ce{HCOOH + Br2 -> CO2 + 2Br^- + 2H+} \]
  • 2.9 \[ \ce{IO3^- + 5I^- + 6H+ -> 3I2 + 3H2O} \] \[ \ce{BrCN + 2I^- + H+ -> I2 + Br^- + HCN} \]
  • 2.10(a) \(\boxed{228\ \mathrm{mol\ thiosulphate\ per\ mol\ Bi}}\).
  • 2.10(b) \(\boxed{1.83\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mg\ Bi}=1.83\ \mathrm{\mu g\ Bi}}\).
  • 2.11 \(\boxed{6.61\times10^3\text{ times}}\).

Names and SMILES for the species in these equations are collected at the end of the solution.

Solution

The calculations use \(M(\ce{Bi})=209.0\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}}\). The given relative formula mass corresponds to a precipitate molar mass of \(862.7\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}}\).

2.1(a) Structures of the ions

The cation is 8-hydroxyquinolinium, Oc1cccc2ccc[nH+]c12.

To draw it, draw the two fused aromatic six-membered rings of quinoline. The nitrogen occupies position 1 in the pyridine ring; attach a hydrogen to this nitrogen and give it a positive charge. Attach a neutral hydroxyl group to carbon 8 on the benzene ring. The fused aromatic skeleton is planar. Protonation occurs at nitrogen; the phenolic oxygen retains its hydrogen.

The anion is tetraiodobismuthate(III), [Bi-](I)(I)(I)I.

Its Lewis connectivity is a central Bi atom with four single Bi–I bonds, one lone pair on Bi, and an overall charge of \(-1\). Each iodine has three lone pairs. Enclose the ion in brackets and place the negative charge outside. This describes connectivity and electron bookkeeping; the empirical formula does not establish the salt’s detailed solid-state coordination geometry.

The negative formal charge assigned to Bi in this covalent SMILES representation is not its oxidation state.

2.1(b) Oxidation state of bismuth

Each iodide ligand has oxidation state \(-1\). If the oxidation state of Bi is \(x\),

\[ x+4(-1)=-1, \]

hence

\[ \boxed{x=+3}. \]

2.2 Gravimetric detection limit

There is one Bi atom per formula unit of precipitate. Its bismuth mass fraction is therefore

\[ w_{\mathrm{Bi}} =\frac{209.0}{862.7} =0.2423. \]

Thus a minimum measurable precipitate mass of \(50.0\ \mathrm{mg}\) contains

\[ m_{\mathrm{Bi,min}} =(50.0\ \mathrm{mg})\frac{209.0}{862.7} =\boxed{12.1\ \mathrm{mg}}. \]

2.3 Precipitation with hexathiocyanatochromate(III)

Chromium is in oxidation state \(+3\), and each of the six thiocyanate ligands has charge \(-1\). The complex therefore has charge

\[ +3+6(-1)=-3. \]

It combines with \(\ce{Bi^3+}\) in a \(1:1\) ratio to form the neutral, insoluble salt:

\[ \boxed{\ce{Bi^3+ + [Cr(SCN)6]^3- -> Bi[Cr(SCN)6](s)}}. \]

Consequently, each mole of precipitated bismuth carries six moles of thiocyanate ligands into the subsequent reactions. Washing removes the excess soluble precipitating reagent.

2.4 Conversion into oxobismuth(III) carbonate

Hydrogen carbonate converts the bismuth-containing solid into \(\ce{(BiO)2CO3}\), while the chromium complex passes into solution unchanged. Excess hydrogen carbonate also neutralizes the acidity associated with forming the oxobismuth units.

Balancing bismuth, the complex ions, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and charge gives

\[ \boxed{\ce{2Bi[Cr(SCN)6](s) + 6HCO3^- -> (BiO)2CO3(s) + 2[Cr(SCN)6]^3- + 5CO2 + 3H2O}}. \]

Both sides have total charge \(-6\). Two moles of the original precipitate release two moles of complex anion, preserving the \(1:1\) relation between initial Bi and recovered chromium complex.

2.5 Oxidation of the thiocyanate ligands by iodine

For each thiocyanate ligand, its sulfur becomes sulphate, while its carbon and nitrogen form cyanogen iodide.

First balance the reaction for one ligand. Four water molecules provide the four oxygen atoms of sulphate, and eight protons balance hydrogen. Charge balance then requires seven iodide ions. Together with the iodine atom in cyanogen iodide, these require four iodine molecules:

\[ \ce{SCN^- + 4I2 + 4H2O -> ICN + SO4^2- + 7I^- + 8H+}. \]

There are six ligands per complex, and chromium remains in oxidation state \(+3\). Thus

\[ \boxed{\ce{[Cr(SCN)6]^3- + 24I2 + 24H2O -> Cr^3+ + 6ICN + 6SO4^2- + 42I^- + 48H+}}. \]

Per mole of initial bismuth, this produces

\[ 6\ \mathrm{mol\ ICN} \quad\text{and}\quad 42\ \mathrm{mol\ iodide}. \]

2.6 Reaction on acidification

Cyanogen iodide reacts with iodide to release molecular iodine. Acid converts the cyanide fragment into hydrogen cyanide:

\[ \boxed{\ce{ICN + I^- + H+ -> I2 + HCN}}. \]

The six moles of cyanogen iodide therefore consume six of the 42 moles of iodide. Per mole of initial Bi, the aqueous solution now contains

\[ 42-6=36\ \mathrm{mol\ iodide} \]

and

\[ 6\ \mathrm{mol\ HCN}. \]

The molecular iodine formed here, together with any excess iodine from Step 3, is subsequently extracted into chloroform. It is therefore not included in the final titration.

2.7 Reactions with bromine water

Iodide is oxidized from oxidation state \(-1\) to \(+5\) in iodate, losing six electrons. Three bromine molecules accept these six electrons:

\[ \boxed{\ce{I^- + 3Br2 + 3H2O -> IO3^- + 6Br^- + 6H+}}. \]

Hydrogen cyanide also reacts with bromine, forming cyanogen bromide:

\[ \boxed{\ce{HCN + Br2 -> BrCN + Br^- + H+}}. \]

Accordingly, per mole of initial bismuth the analytical products are now

\[ 36\ \mathrm{mol\ iodate} \quad\text{and}\quad 6\ \mathrm{mol\ cyanogen\ bromide}. \]

2.8 Removal of excess bromine

Formic acid is oxidized to carbon dioxide. Its carbon changes oxidation state from \(+2\) to \(+4\), supplying the two electrons needed to reduce one bromine molecule:

\[ \boxed{\ce{HCOOH + Br2 -> CO2 + 2Br^- + 2H+}}. \]

Removing excess bromine prevents it from liberating additional iodine when potassium iodide is added.

2.9 Liberation of iodine by added iodide

Iodate reacts with iodide in acidic solution:

\[ \boxed{\ce{IO3^- + 5I^- + 6H+ -> 3I2 + 3H2O}}. \]

Thus each mole of iodate produces three moles of molecular iodine.

Cyanogen bromide also oxidizes iodide. Its bromine becomes bromide, and its cyanide fragment becomes hydrogen cyanide:

\[ \boxed{\ce{BrCN + 2I^- + H+ -> I2 + Br^- + HCN}}. \]

Each mole of cyanogen bromide therefore produces one mole of molecular iodine.

2.10(a) Thiosulphate equivalent of bismuth

The complete accounting per mole of initial bismuth is:

Stage Amounts derived from \(1\ \mathrm{mol}\) initial Bi
Recovery of the chromium complex \(1\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{[Cr(SCN)6]^3-}\), containing six thiocyanate ligands
Oxidation by iodine \(6\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{ICN}+42\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{I^-}\)
Acidification and extraction of iodine \(6\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{HCN}+36\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{I^-}\) remain
Treatment with bromine \(6\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{BrCN}+36\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{IO3^-}\)
Addition of excess iodide \(6+3(36)=114\ \mathrm{mol}\ \ce{I2}\)

The iodine–thiosulphate titration reaction is

\[ \ce{I2 + 2S2O3^2- -> 2I^- + S4O6^2-}. \]

Each mole of iodine consumes two moles of thiosulphate. Hence

\[ \frac{n(\ce{S2O3^2-})}{n(\ce{Bi})} =2[6+3(36)] =\boxed{228}. \]

Equivalently, each thiocyanate ligand ultimately gives \(19\) iodine molecules and consumes \(38\) thiosulphate ions; six ligands give \(6(38)=228\).

2.10(b) Detection limit of the multiplicative method

The minimum titrant volume is

\[ 1\ \mathrm{cm^3}=1\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{L}. \]

The corresponding amount of thiosulphate is

\[ n_{\min}(\ce{S2O3^2-}) =(0.00200\ \mathrm{mol\,L^{-1}}) (1\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{L}) =2.00\times10^{-6}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

Therefore,

\[ n_{\min}(\ce{Bi}) =\frac{2.00\times10^{-6}}{228} =8.77\times10^{-9}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

The minimum bismuth mass is

\[ \begin{aligned} m_{\min}(\ce{Bi}) &=(8.77\times10^{-9}\ \mathrm{mol}) (209.0\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}})\\ &=1.83\times10^{-6}\ \mathrm{g}\\ &=\boxed{1.83\times10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mg} =1.83\ \mathrm{\mu g}}. \end{aligned} \]

2.11 Relative sensitivity

Sensitivity here is compared through the reciprocal detection limits. The improvement factor is

\[ F=\frac{m_{\min,\mathrm{Berg}}} {m_{\min,\mathrm{multiplicative}}}. \]

Using the unrounded calculated masses,

\[ F=\frac{12.1131\ \mathrm{mg}} {0.00183333\ \mathrm{mg}} =6607.16. \]

Thus the multiplicative method is

\[ \boxed{6.61\times10^3\text{ times more sensitive}}. \]

Names and SMILES for the reaction species

The chromium coordination SMILES below use the conventional N-bound, octahedral representation: six thiocyanate nitrogen donors surround chromium. The arrows encode donor-to-metal bonds, but not octahedral geometry. Dot-separated SMILES for ionic solids describe formula-unit composition rather than their crystal lattices.

Species Name SMILES
\(\ce{[C9H6(OH)NH][BiI4]}\) 8-Hydroxyquinolinium tetraiodobismuthate(III) Oc1cccc2ccc[nH+]c12.[Bi-](I)(I)(I)I
\(\ce{Bi^3+}\) Bismuth(III) ion [Bi+3]
\(\ce{Cr^3+}\) Chromium(III) ion [Cr+3]
\(\ce{SCN^-}\) Thiocyanate ion N#C[S-]
\(\ce{[Cr(SCN)6]^3-}\) Hexathiocyanatochromate(III) ion [Cr+3](<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])<-N#C[S-]
\(\ce{Bi[Cr(SCN)6]}\) Bismuth(III) hexathiocyanatochromate(III) [Bi+3].[Cr+3](<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])(<-N#C[S-])<-N#C[S-]
\(\ce{HCO3^-}\) Hydrogen carbonate ion O=C(O)[O-]
\(\ce{(BiO)2CO3}\) Oxobismuth(III) carbonate [Bi+3].[Bi+3].[O-2].[O-2].[O-]C(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{CO2}\) Carbon dioxide O=C=O
\(\ce{H2O}\) Water O
\(\ce{I2}\) Molecular iodine II
\(\ce{I^-}\) Iodide ion [I-]
\(\ce{H+}\) Hydrogen ion [H+]
\(\ce{SO4^2-}\) Sulphate ion [O-]S(=O)(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{ICN}\) Cyanogen iodide IC#N
\(\ce{HCN}\) Hydrogen cyanide C#N
\(\ce{Br2}\) Molecular bromine BrBr
\(\ce{Br^-}\) Bromide ion [Br-]
\(\ce{BrCN}\) Cyanogen bromide BrC#N
\(\ce{IO3^-}\) Iodate ion [O-]I(=O)=O
\(\ce{HCOOH}\) Methanoic (formic) acid C(=O)O
\(\ce{S2O3^2-}\) Thiosulphate ion [O-]S(=O)(=O)[S-]
\(\ce{S4O6^2-}\) Tetrathionate ion [O-]S(=O)(=O)SSS(=O)(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{CHCl3}\) Chloroform ClC(Cl)Cl
\(\ce{H2SO4}\) Sulphuric acid OS(=O)(=O)O
\(\ce{K+}\) Potassium ion, a spectator counterion [K+]
\(\ce{Na+}\) Sodium ion, a spectator counterion [Na+]

The cyanogen halides and hydrogen cyanide have linear heavy-atom arrangements. No stereochemical specification is needed for the species used here.

The solution was checked against the official solution.