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An Infrared and Chemical Investigation of the Acid Tin Chloride Method of Determining Quinones in Humus
Author(s) -
Mathur Sukhdev P.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1972.03615995003600040032x
Subject(s) - chemistry , quinone , benzophenone , humus , benzaldehyde , chloride , conjugated system , chromophore , humic acid , infrared spectroscopy , photochemistry , organic chemistry , soil water , fertilizer , polymer , environmental science , soil science , catalysis
Observations of infrared spectral changes accompanying an acid SnCl 2 treatment of soil humic preparations and a known quinone confirmed the effectiveness of SnCl 2 ‐HCl for reducing quinones. The treatment did not reduce the nonquinoid but conjugated carbonyls of p ‐hydroxy‐benzaldehyde, benzophenone, o ‐benzoylbenzoic acid, chalcone, and curcumin. Recent criticisms of the technique were examined. It was proposed that due to the diversity in carbonyl frequencies, the variety of quinone groups and their derivatives, perhaps no single species of quinoid carbonyl was present in amounts adequate enough to be represented by a distinct peak in the spectra of unmodified humic compounds. Instead, there may have been several small peaks, all masked by the broad absorption bands due to other chromophores in the 1600‐ and 1700‐cm ‐1 regions. Spectra of blends of fulvic acids (FA) with certain quinones, and naphtharesorcinol, supported the above concept. The 1600‐cm ‐1 region of the FA spectra may have represented aromatic −C = C as well as quinones H‐bonded to ‐OH groups. In an indirect manner, this study furnished additional evidence for the presence of quinones in soil humus.