2-[2-(4-Methylbenzothiazolyl)azo]-5-dimethylaminobenzoic acid (4-Me-BTAMB) reacts with copper(II) to, form a 1 : 1 complex as a selective chromogenic reagent. In aqueous 1,4-dioxane solution a blue colour is obtained with an absorbance peak at 650 nm. The apparent molar absorptivity of the 4-Me-BTAMB copper(II) complex was 3.1 x 10(4) l mol-1 cm-1. The optimum range for measurement in 1.0-cm cells was 0.04 - 2 mg Cu(II) l-1. The proposed method is simple and very selective, and has been applied to the determination of copper in aluminium alloys.