György Csekő

Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of pentathionate ion by chlorine dioxide in a slightly acidic medium.

The chlorine dioxide-pentathionate reaction has been studied at a slightly acidic medium by conventional UV-vis spectroscopy monitoring the absorbance at 430 nm. We have shown that pentathionate was oxidized to sulfate, but chlorate is also a marginal product of the reaction besides the chloride ion. The stoichiometry of the reaction can be established as a linear combination of two limiting stoichiometries under our experimental conditions. Kinetics of the reaction was found to be also complex because initial rate studies revealed that formal kinetic orders of both the hydrogen ion and chlorine dioxide is far from unity. Moreover, log-log plot of the initial rate against pentathionate concentration indicated a nonconstant formal kinetic order. We also observed a significant catalytic effect of chloride ion. Based on our observations and simultaneous evaluation of the kinetic curves, an 11-step kinetic model is obtained with 6 fitted rate coefficients. A relatively simple rate equation has also been derived and discussed.

Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of bromide by periodate in aqueous acidic solution.

The periodate–bromide reaction has been studied spectrophotometrically mainly in excess of bromide ion, monitoring the formation of the total amount of bromine at 450 nm at acidic buffered conditions and at a constant ionic strength in the presence of a phosphoric acid/dihydrogen phosphate buffer. The stoichiometry of the reaction was established to be strictly IO4(–) + 2Br(–) + 2H(+) → Br2 + IO3(–) + H2O. The formal kinetic order of the reactants was found to be perfectly one and two in the cases of periodate and bromide, respectively, but that of the hydrogen ion lies between one and two. We have also provided experimental evidence that dihydrogen phosphate accelerates the formation of bromine, suggesting the appearance of strong buffer assistance. On the basis of the experiments, a simple two-step kinetic model is proposed involving BrIO3 as a key intermediate that perfectly explains all of the experimental findings. Furthermore, we have also shown that in huge excess of bromide, the apparent rate coefficient obtained from the individual curve fitting method of the absorbance–time series is necessarily independent of the initial periodate concentration that may falsely be interpreted as the rate of bromine formation is also independent of the concentration of periodate.

An improved chemical model for the quantitative description of the front propagation in the tetrathionate–chlorite reaction

It is experimentally proven that the stoichiometry of the tetrathionate-chlorite reaction is 2S4O(2-)6 + 8(1/2)ClO-(2) + 6H2O = 8SO(2-)4 + ClO-(3) + 7(1/2)Cl- + 12H+ near 1:4 molar ratio of the reactants. Re-evaluation of the previously measured front velocity--concentration curves also shows that this stoichiometry along with both the rate equation r = (1.6 x 10(5) M(-3) s(-1) [H+]2 + 3.6 x 10(7) M(-4) s(-1) [H+]3)[S4O(2-)6][ClO-(2)] and the protonation processes existing in the present system allow us to describe the front velocity as a function of the initial concentration of the reactants quantitatively. Some consequences detailed in the conclusions may concern not only uniquely the tetrathionate-chlorite reaction but any front propagation study including H+ as an autocatalyst.

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Chlorite-Periodate System: Formation of a Short-Lived Key Intermediate OClOIO3 and Its Subsequent Reactions

The chlorite-periodate reaction has been studied spectrophotometrically in acidic medium at 25.0 ± 0.1 °C, monitoring the absorbance at 400 nm in acetate/acetic acid buffer at constant ionic strength (I = 0.5 M). We have shown that periodate was exclusively reduced to iodate, but chlorite ion was oxidized to chlorate and chlorine dioxide via branching pathways. The stoichiometry of the reaction can be described as a linear combination of two limiting stoichiometries under our experimental conditions. Detailed initial rate studies have clearly revealed that the formal kinetic orders of hydrogen ion, chlorite ion, and periodate ion are all strictly one, establishing an empirical rate law to be d[ClO2]/dt = kobs[ClO2(-)][IO4(-)][H(+)], where the apparent rate coefficient (kobs) was found to be 70 ± 13 M(-2) s(-1). On the basis of the experiments, a simple four-step kinetic model with three fitted kinetic parameters is proposed by nonlinear parameter estimation. The reaction was found to proceed via a parallel oxygen transfer reaction leading to the exclusive formation of chlorate and iodate as well as via the formation of a short-lived key intermediate OClOIO3 followed by its further transformations by a sequence of branching pathways.

Kinetics and mechanism of the hypochlorous acid-trithionate reaction

The trithionate-hypochlorous acid reaction has been studied by the stopped-flow technique and conventional spectrophotometry between pH = 6.59-12.2 monitoring absorbance-time profiles at 285 and 225 nm. We showed that the formal kinetic order of Cl(I) is nearly 2; however, those of hydrogen ion and trithionate are significantly lower than unity, suggesting complex kinetics. It was also demonstrated that both forms of Cl(I) are kinetically active within the concentration range studied. Simultaneous evaluation of the kinetic curves revealed that the reaction was initiated by a formal Cl(+) transfer to the partially negatively charged β-sulfur of trithionate. S3O6Cl(-) formed in the first step was also found to be equilibrating with S3O6OH(-) via a simple chlorine-OH exchange reaction followed by their subsequent oxidation of hypochlorite and hypochlorous acid, respectively. A six-step kinetic model is proposed and discussed with having four fitted and four fixed parameters.

A Simple Kinetic Model for Description of the Iodate-Arsenous Acid Reaction: Experimental Evidence of the Direct Reaction

The autocatalytic iodate-arsenous acid reaction was investigated by a stopped-flow instrument under strongly acidic medium (pH ≤ 1) by monitoring the absorbance-time profiles at 468 nm. The kinetic traces were found to exhibit a perfect sigmoidal shape in stoichiometric excess of iodate with a well-defined and reproducible induction period that depends on the initial concentration of the reactants as well as on the pH. All the experimental curves can be globally fitted by a simple kinetic model involving the direct reaction between the reactants to produce iodide ion, the Dushman and the Roebuck reactions, and two rapid equilibria. Our measurements along with simultaneous evaluation of the kinetic traces clearly support that indeed the initiation reaction exists at strongly acidic conditions and contributes to the overall kinetics. The measured traces cannot be described adequately by the iodide ion impurity-driven Dushman and Roebuck reactions with assuming no direct reaction at all.