Ultraviolet spectrophotometric studies of the reactivity of a water‐soluble polymer containing pendant 8‐hydroxyquinoline moieties with metal ions

The water-soluble polymer [CH 2 CH(CONH 2 )/CH 2 CH(PhNHCH 2 [C 9 H 5 N(OH)])] n containing pendant 8-hydroxyquinoline (oxine) moieties was prepared and its reactivity with metal ions was studied by means of UV spectrophotometry. The polymer was found to form complexes with metal ions in a mole ratio of 2:1 (oxine: metal), which is also obtained for the metal complexes of a model compound except for the Mg 2+ complex. The polymer hardly reacts with Mg 2+ , while the model compound forms a 1:1 mol/mol complex. The stability of the complexes of the polymer with metal ions was found to decrease in the following order. Cu 2+ >Ni 2+ >Zn 2+ >Cd 2+ >Hg 2+ >Mg 2+