[Highly sensitive spectrofluorimetric determination of trace amounts of nitrite with N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine].

A simple and sensitive fluorescence quenching method for the determination of trace nitrite was developed. The method is based on the reaction of NED with nitrite in acidic medium to form a new compound, which has weak fluorescence. The linear range was 1.07-214.0 microg x L(-1) with a 3sigma detection limit of 0.069 microg x L(-1) under the optimum experimental conditions. This proposed method has been applied to the determination of trace amounts of NO2- in tap water and lake water without extraction.