Kinetics and Mechanism of the Oxidation of Formaldehyde by Permanganate Ion in Aqueous Perchloric Acid

Abstract

The kinetics of the oxidation of formaldehyde by permanganate ion has been investigated in aqueous perchloric acid medium. The rate of the reaction was found to be acid dependent and the empirical rate law given as follows;

a = 1.17 x 10-4 s-1, b = 6.71 x 10-2 mol-1 dm3s-1; at [H+] = 0.05mol dm-3; I = 0.5mol dm-3, λ = 635nm, T = 25 + 0.1oC. The activation parameters were evaluated as; Ea = 45.18KJmol 1; H# = 42.76 KJmol-1 and S# = 168.55Jmol-1K-1. The outer sphere pathway was proposed for the title reaction.