A new catalytic kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of oxalic acid has been described based on its catalytic effect on the redox reaction between safranine and dichromate in dilute sulfuric acid media. The reaction is monitored photometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance of safranine at the maximum wavelength of 530 nm. Under the optimum conditions, a calibration graph from 0.10 to 10.00 g ml−1 of oxalic acid with a detection limit of 0.08 g ml−1 was obtained. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for ten replicate measurements of 1.0 and 5.0 g ml−1 oxalic acid was 2.7 and 2.5%, respectively. The purposed method is simple, sensitive, selective and inexpensive. The applicability of the proposed method was determined by the determination of oxalic acid in spinach and wastewater samples with satisfactory results. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
