CHARACTERIZATION OF MODEL AND SOIL ORGANIC MATTER METAL-PHOSPHATE COMPLEXES

Abstract

Fulvic acid–metal–phosphate complexes prepared in the laboratory and corresponding complexes extracted (0.1 N NaOH and chelating resin) from a soil were characterized by means of electrophoresis, Sephadex gel filtration, and methods for differentiation of organic and inorganic phosphorus. The findings can be summarized as follows:(1) The prepared material in aqueous solution (after purification by dialysis) comprised three different entities: a fulvic acid–metal–phosphate complex, a fulvic acid–metal complex, and unbonded inorganic phosphate. These entities were reaction products obtained during the formation of fulvic acid–metal–phosphate complexes.(2) Upon hydrolysis in mild alkaline media, the metal–phosphate bonds of the fulvic acid–metal–phosphate complexes were broken; the fulvic acid–metal complexes, freed from the phosphate, remained intact.(3) While metal ions were necessary for bridging phosphorus and fulvic acid, phosphorus in turn may have bridged the fulvic acid–metal units.(4) Significant amounts of complexed inorganic phosphorus were found intermixed with organic phosphorus compounds in soil extracts; this suggested the existence of organic matter metal–phosphate complexes in soil.