Spectrophotometric determination of trace boron in biological materials after alkali fusion decomposition.

A new decomposition technique is used to allow the determination of the boron content in biological materials. Alkali fusion preserves the boron present. The boron is extracted with methylene blue and hydrofluoric acid. Isotopically enriched /sup 10/B samples are injected into hamsters. Liver and melanoma samples are decomposed, extracted, and analyzed for /sup 10/B content. The /sup 11/B content is checked with NMR spectroscopy. The /sup 10/B content is determined by using absorption spectroscopy. 1 reference, 4 figures, 1 table.