Simultaneous determination of Al(III) and Fe(III) in post-hemodialysis fluids by spectrophotometry and multivariate calibration

A multivariate calibration model (PLS) was developed for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Al(III) and Fe(III) in post-hemodialysis fluids with pyrocathecol violet (PCV) as chromogenic reagent. The analytes build stable complexes with PCV in presence of hexamine buffered medium at pH 6.1. The complexes show overlapped absorption bands in the spectral range of 220–800 nm so that absorptions of 580 wavelengths were necessary for the calibrations. Determinations of Al(III) and Fe(III) were done without masking agents. The best calibration model was obtained by using PLS-1 regression with three components after data mean centering. The spectrophotometric method applied to assay the analytes in real post-hemodialysis samples containing no desferrioxamine B presented good agreement with voltammetric measurements used as reference. Concentrations ranging from 0.20 to 0.60 mg L−1 for Al(III) and for Fe(III) were determined in real samples. The multivariate detection limits for Al(III) and Fe(III) were 0.044 and 0.052 mg L−1, respectively, and the calculated values of sensitivity were 6.33 for Al(III) and 3.44 for Fe(III). The proposed method showed to be straightforward and useful to follow the hemodialysis progress for patients under treatment. Interferents were also investigated.