No abstract

Penicillamine (PA) has shown promise as a t h e r a p e u t i c agent i n t h e treatment of rheumatoid a r t h r i t i s (RA), and a s e n s i t i v e a n a l y t i c a l procedure a p p l i c a b l e t o physiological f l u i d s i s needed. PA i s a metal c h e l a t i n g agent which forms very s t r o n g complexes with heavy metal ions (e.g., Hg , Cu , Pb ) . This c h a r a c t e r i s t i c has been applied t o t h e a n a l y t i c a l problem presented. ed i s based on potentiometric t i t r a t i o n o f t h e ligand with a metal ion s o l u t i o n u t i l i z i n g f o r endpoint d e t e c t i o n an i d d i c a t o r e l e c t r o d e s e l e c t i v e f o r t h i s metal ion. The procedure described used lead (11) as t h e t i t r a n t and a lead (11) s e l e c t i v e e l e c t r o d e . Demonstrated prec i s i o n was ?2.0% when 7.5 ug PA was determined i n 50 m l s o l u t i o n .2+