Catalysis electrolyte effects

The sucrose inversion has been extensively studied from the viewpoint of electrolyte effects (Guggenheim and Wiseman, 2), the application of the Arrhenius equation to the reaction (Leininger and Kilpatrick, 3), and the catalytic effects of acid molecules (Hammett and Paul, 4). It is probable that, in aqueous solution, we are dealing with a case of specific hydrogen ion catalysis and can postulate the equilibrium (Gross, Steiner, and Suess, 5)... 

The polyelectrolyte catalysis of chemical reactions involving ionic species has been the subject of extensive investigations since the pioneering studies of Morawetz et al. [12] and Ise et al. [13-17]. The catalytic effect or the ability of poly-electrolytes to enhance or retard reaction rates is mainly due to concentration or exclusion of either or both of the ionic reactants by the polyions added to the reaction systems. For example, the chemical reaction between ionic species carrying the same charge is enhanced in the presence of polyions carrying the opposite charge. This enhancement can be attributed to an increase in the local concentration... 

With 77 % aqueous acetic acid, the rates were found to be more affected by added perchloric acid than by sodium perchlorate (but only at higher concentrations than those used by Stanley and Shorter207, which accounts for the failure of these workers to observe acid catalysis, but their observation of kinetic orders in hypochlorous acid of less than one remains unaccounted for). The difference in the effect of the added electrolyte increased with concentration, and the rates of the acid-catalysed reaction reached a maximum in ca. 50 % aqueous acetic acid, passed through a minimum at ca. 90 % aqueous acetic acid and rose very rapidly thereafter. The faster chlorination in 50% acid than in water was, therefore, considered consistent with chlorination by AcOHCl+, which is subject to an increasing solvent effect in the direction of less aqueous media (hence the minimum in 90 % acid), and a third factor operates, viz. that in pure acetic acid the bulk source of chlorine ischlorineacetate rather than HOC1 and causes the rapid rise in rate towards the anhydrous medium. The relative rates of the acid-catalysed (acidity > 0.49 M) chlorination of some aromatics in 76 % aqueous acetic acid at 25 °C were found to be toluene, 69 benzene, 1 chlorobenzene, 0.097 benzoic acid, 0.004. Some of these kinetic observations were confirmed in a study of the chlorination of diphenylmethane in the presence of 0.030 M perchloric acid, second-order rate coefficients were obtained at 25 °C as follows209 0.161 (98 vol. % aqueous acetic acid) ca. 0.078 (75 vol. % acid), and, in the latter solvent in the presence of 0.50 M perchloric acid, diphenylmethane was approximately 30 times more reactive than benzene. 

By 19884 it became obvious that the NEMCA effect, this large apparent violation of Faraday s law, is a general phenomenon not limited to a few oxidation reactions on Ag. Of key importance in understanding NEMCA came the observation that NEMCA is accompanied by potential-controlled variation in the catalyst work function.6 Its importance was soon recognized by leading electrochemists, surface scientists and catalysis researchers. Today the NEMCA effect has been studied already for more than 60 catalytic systems and does not seem to be limited to any specific type of catalytic reaction, metal catalyst or solid electrolyte, particularly in view of... 

Consequently the absolute potential is a material property which can be used to characterize solid electrolyte materials, several of which, as discussed in Chapter 11, are used increasingly in recent years as high surface area catalyst supports. This in turn implies that the Fermi level of dispersed metal catalysts supported on such carriers will be pinned to the Fermi level (or absolute potential) of the carrier (support). As discussed in Chapter 11 this is intimately related to the effect of metal-support interactions, which is of central importance in heterogeneous catalysis. 

Vepfek-Siska ascribes the accelerative effects of inert electrolytes to catalysis by trace quantities of Cu ions. 

So far, certain biomimetic catalysts (1 and 2b in Fig. 18.17) have been shown to reduce O2 to H2O under a slow electron flux at physiologically relevant conditions (pH 7,0.2-0.05 V potential vs. NHE) and retain their catalytic activity for >10" turnovers. Probably, only the increased stability of the turning-over catalyst is of relevance to the development of practical ORR catalysts for fuel cells. In addition, biomimetic catalysts of series 1,2,3, and 5, and catalyst 4b are the only metalloporphyrins studied in ORR catalysis with well-defined proximal and distal environments. For series 2, which is by far the most thoroughly studied series of biomimetic ORR catalysts, these well-defined environments result in an effective catalysis that seems to be the least sensitive among all metalloporphyrins to the electrode material (whether the catalyst is adsorbed or in the film) and to chemicals present in the electrolyte or in the O2 stream, including typical catalyst poisons (CO and CN ). 

Selected entries from Methods in Enzymology [vol, page(s)] Theory, 63, 340-352 measurement, 63, 365 cryosolvent [catalytic effect, 63, 344-346 choice, 63, 341-343 dielectric constant, 63, 354 electrolyte solubility, 63, 355, 356 enzyme stability, 63, 344 pH measurements, 63, 357, 358 preparation, 63, 358-361 viscosity effects, 63, 358] intermediate detection, 63, 349, 350 mixing techniques, 63, 361, 362 rapid reaction techniques, 63, 367-369 temperature control, 63, 363-367 temperature effect on catalysis, 63, 348, 349 temperature effect on enzyme structure, 63, 348. 

In the presence of sodium tosylate (NaTos), both the rate constant kexp and the viscosity of the solution show maxima at the same electrolyte concentration. The dramatic variation in 17 shown in Figure 8.10a suggests that the sodium tosylate alters the shape of the micelles, first producing rodlike structures that subsequently break up into more compact structures. The complicated phase diagrams of surfactants make this a plausible explanation. Effects such as this clearly complicate the picture not only of inhibition, but also of micellar catalysis in general. 

In chemical heterogeneous catalysis, it is common to use highly porous catalysts that come in particles of millimeter to centimeter size to increase the effective catalyst surface. In practical electrocatalysis, in particular applying electrocatalysis in fuel cells, it is also usual to use highly porous— although accounting for the low diffusion coefficients in liquid electrolytes compared to gases, 10 5 cm2/sec vs 1 cm2/sec, much smaller—catalyst particles. 

The phosphoric acid cell has been under research for a longer time than that of any other kind of fuel cell. Alloys of Pt with Cr, V, and Ti and other non-noble metals are better than Pt (Appleby, 1986). The particle size of the catalyst has been reduced to that of tens of atoms (Stonehart, 1993).10 Much attention has been given to the search for non-noble (hence cheaper) catalysts that are stable in hot acids. The best are the porphyrins, the formulas for which are shown in Fig. 13.20. They are applied to a base of graphite. These electrocatalysts are more effective in alkaline fuel cells than in those with acid electrolytes. Curiously, these substances are more stable and give better catalysis after pyrolysis in He at 800 °C, a process that would decompose the organic part of the structure. Perhaps the only active part of the porphyrin catalyst is the central... 

An interesting observation has been made by Palmer 9 in connexion with the catalytic action on ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol of metallic copper. When produced by the reduction of copper oxide, the metal was found to be active in promoting catalysis of ethyl alcohol to acetaldehyde but electrolytic copper was without effect on either alcohol. 

The electrostatic model for the micellar effect on the hydrolysis of phosphate monoesters is also consistent with the results of inhibition studies (Bunton et al., 1968, 1970). The CTAB catalyzed hydrolysis of the dinitrophenyl phosphate dianions was found to be inhibited by low concentrations of a number of salts (Fig. 9). Simple electrolytes such as sodium chloride, sodium phosphate, and disodium tetraborate had little effect on the micellar catalysis, but salts with bulky organic anions such as sodium p-toluenesulfonate and sodium salts of aryl carboxylic and phosphoric acids dramatically inhibited the micelle catalysis by CTAB. From equation 14 and Fig. 10, the inhibitor constants, K, were calculated (Bunton et al., 1968) and are given in Table 9. The linearity of the plots in Fig. 10 justifies the assumption that the inhibition is competitive and that incorporation of an inhibitor molecule in a micelle prevents incorporation of the substrate (see Section III). Comparison of the value of for phenyl phosphate and the values of K for 2,4-and 2,6-dinitrophenyl phosphates suggests that nitro groups assist the... 

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