The color reaction of l-pyridine- 3-(4-phenylazophenyl)-triazene(PYPAPT) with mercury(II) has been studied. Results show that the mercury(II) reacts with PYPAPT to form a red complex with a molar ratio of 1 : 2 in the presence of Triton X-100 and in the medium of Na2B4O7 - NaOH buffer solution at pH10. The maximum absorption of the complex is at 518 nm and the apparent molar absorptivity is 1.42 x 105L ·mol-1 ·cm-1. Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0~0.64 mg/L for mercury(II). The results obtained by this method are agreement with those obtained by AAS method. The RSD is less...