A new highly selective colorimetric Schiff base chemosensor for determining the copper content in artisanal cachaças.

Onça, Larissa Oliveira; de Souza, Joseana Caroline Palmeira; Dos Santos, Izabela Gessyane Nogueira; Santos, Emerson de Sousa; Soares, Sérgio Macêdo; Diniz, Paulo Henrique Gonçalves Dias

This work demonstrated the feasibility of applying the Schiff base 5-bromo-2-salicyl-beta-alanine as a colorimetric chemosensor for the spectrophotometric quantification of the copper content in artisanal cachaças. For this, the experimental conditions were optimized to obtain an efficient, sensitive, reversible, and highly selective chemosensor to Cu2+ ions. The complex stoichiometry was 1:1, with a formation constant of 5.82 × 102 L mol-1 and molar absorptivity of 5.82 × 103 mol L-1 cm-1. Then, a spectrophotometric analytical method was developed and validated according to the Brazilian legislation. The linearity of the analytical curve was demonstrated by ANOVA, at a confidence level of 95%. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.0659 and 0.200 mg L-1, respectively. The coefficients of variation for both the intra- and inter-day precisions were lower than 3.83%, and the accuracy presented a mean recovery of 100.55 ± 2.87%. The absence of a matrix effect was confirmed by the standard addition method, and the copper content in three artisanal cachaças from different geographical origins was estimated as lower than 2.93 mg L-1. This result was in accordance with the Brazilian legislation but reinforces the need to carry out stricter quality control to achieve exportation standards. Therefore, the proposed method can be considered a simple, selective, linear, precise, and accurate tool that involves only a simple complexation reaction through the addition of the chemosensor solution in a buffered medium. As a consequence, the simplicity, practicality, rapidity, and low cost of synthesis of the proposed Schiff base chemosensor are highlighted.