Inconsistency in the stability constants of inorganic polyphosphate anions determined by potentiometry and spectroscopy

Compared with cyclo -triphosphate anions, cyclo -tri- w -imidotriphosphate anions (Figure 1), cP 3 (NH) 3 3 m , form stable complexes with transition metal ions. Two experimental procedures, potentiometry and spectroscopy, have been applied to determine the stability constants of the complexes with Co 2+ , Ni 2+ , and Cu 2+ ions at 25°;C and at I = 0.10 (NaClO 4 ). One-to-one (ML) complex formation has been assumed for the analyses. In the presence of sufficiently high concentration of metal ions, the log g 1 values determined by both methods are consistent with each other, whereas the log g 1 value determined by spectroscopy decreases with the decrease in metal ion concentration. This peculiar phenomenon cannot be explained by the presence of additional complexes, that is, ML 2 or M 2 L. One possible reasoning is agglomeration formation of ligand molecules mediated by countercations in aqueous solution.