Two new spectrophotometric reagents for copper.

Two ferroin-type compounds are proposed as spectrophotometric reagents for copper(I): 6-methyl-2-pyridylhydrazidine, which forms a yellow complex with lambda(max) 426 nm and molar absorptivity 700 l.mole(-1).mm(-1), and 3-(6-methyl-2-pyridyl)-5,6-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazine, which forms a red-orange complex with (lambda)max 492 nm and molar absorptivity of 955 l.mole(-1).mm(-1). These reagents are specific for copper and the complexes can be extracted into isopentanol for increased sensitivity.