Vanillin-2- amino nicotinic acid (VANA) has been proposed as new analytical reagent for the direct non-extractive spectrophotometric determination of Arsenic. The reagent reacts with arsenic in acidic medium (pH 5.0, Sodium acetate- acetic acid buffer) to form light greenish yellow colored 1:1 (M:L). The colour reactions are instaneous and the maximum absorbance was obtained at 350 nm and remains constant for over 3 h. The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity of VANA found to be 6.805 x 103 L mol-1cm-1 and 0.00146 μgcm-2 of AsIII respectively. The system obeys Beer’s law in the range of 0.128 - 2.66 μg/ml of AsIII. Since VANA method is more sensitive it was applied for determination of Arsenic in some environmental water samples.
