The Griess test detects this anion in drinking water. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this polyatomic ion with formula NO2- (“N O two minus”). It contaminates groundwater and causes infant methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome,” just like nitrate.
ANSWER: nitrite [or nitrites; reject “nitrate”]
[10h] The Griess assay detects nitrites and nitrates by a chromogenic reaction with this drug. Congress mandated pharma companies to test drug safety after 107 people were poisoned by an elixir formulation of this blockbuster antibiotic in 1937.
ANSWER: sulfanilamide [prompt on sulfonamide or sulfa drugs]
[10m] Organic nitrogen in water is measured by this other test, which digests a sample in a sulfuric acid bath, then distills out the ammonia and quantifies it by titration. This test is the standard for protein quantification in food.
ANSWER: Kjeldahl (“KELL-doll”) method
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