Initiation step kinetics

The Landolt reaction (iodate + reductant) is prototypical of an autocatalytic clock reaction. During the induction period, the absence of the feedback species (Irere iodide ion, assumed to have virtually zero initial concentration and fomred from the reactant iodate only via very slow initiation steps) causes the reaction mixture to become kinetically frozen . There is reaction, but the intemiediate species evolve on concentration scales many orders of magnitude less than those of the reactant. The induction period depends on the initial concentrations of the major reactants in a maimer predicted by integrating the overall rate cubic autocatalytic rate law, given in section A3.14.1.1. 

The characteristic feature of solid—solid reactions which controls, to some extent, the methods which can be applied to the investigation of their kinetics, is that the continuation of product formation requires the transportation of one or both reactants to a zone of interaction, perhaps through a coherent barrier layer of the product phase or as a monomolec-ular layer across surfaces. Since diffusion at phase boundaries may occur at temperatures appreciably below those required for bulk diffusion, the initial step in product formation may be rapidly completed on the attainment of reaction temperature. In such systems, there is no initial delay during nucleation and the initial processes, perhaps involving monomolec-ular films, are not readily identified. The subsequent growth of the product phase, the main reaction, is thereafter controlled by the diffusion of one or more species through the barrier layer. Microscopic observation is of little value where the phases present cannot be unambiguously identified and X-ray diffraction techniques are more fruitful. More recently, the considerable potential of electron microprobe analyses has been developed and exploited. 

Kinetic observations for decomposition of some representative transition metal sulphides are summarized in Table 13. Several instances of an advancing interface [contracting volume, eqn. (7), n = 3] rate process have been identified and the rate may be diminished by the presence of sulphur. Diffusion control is, however, believed to be important in the reactions of two lower sulphides (Ni0.9sS. [687] and Cu1-8S [688]). These solids have attracted particular interest since both are commercially valuable ores and pyrolysis constitutes one possible initial step in metal extraction. 

References to a number of other kinetic studies of the decomposition of Ni(HC02)2 have been given [375]. Erofe evet al. [1026] observed that doping altered the rate of reaction of this solid and, from conductivity data, concluded that the initial step involves electron transfer (HCOO- - HCOO +e-). Fox et al. [118], using particles of homogeneous size, showed that both the reaction rate and the shape of a time curves were sensitive to the mean particle diameter. However, since the reported measurements refer to reactions at different temperatures, it is at least possible that some part of the effects described could be temperature effects. Decomposition of nickel formate in oxygen [60] yielded NiO and C02 only the shapes of the a—time curves were comparable in some respects with those for reaction in vacuum and E = 160 15 kJ mole-1. Criado et al. [1031] used the Prout—Tompkins equation [eqn. (9)] in a non-isothermal kinetic analysis of nickel formate decomposition and obtained E = 100 4 kJ mole-1. 

Isothermal a—time curves for the decomposition of U02(CH3C02)2 in air (513—573 K) [1018] showed two approximately linear regions, 0.0 < a < 0.2 and 0.2 < a < 0.9, for which the values of E were 107 and 165 kJ mole-1, respectively. In nitrogen, the earlier portion of the curve was not linear and E = 151 kJ mole-1 for the later interval. The zero-order kinetic behaviour was explained by growth of nuclei in thin, plate-like crystals, which were shown by microscopic and surface area measurements to fragment when a > 0.85. The proposed initial step in the decomposition was fission of bonds between the U02+ and the (OCO CH3) species [1018]. 

The results of kinetic studies suggest that alkane substitution reactions typically proceed by a radical chain mechanism (Section 13.9). The initiation step in the chlorination of methane is the dissociation of chlorine ... 

Aqueous acidic ferricyanide oxidises thioglycollic acid, HSCH2COOH, to the disulphide with identical kinetics, and a similar reversible initial step is proposed. ... 

The initial step of the anaerobic ferrocyanide reduction of cumene hydroperoxide to acetophenone has kinetics ... 

Initial Stage Mercury electrodes can be used to study the kinetics of the initial step of cathodic metal ion discharge without comphcations due to subsequent steps. Here, the primary reaction product, metal atoms, do not form nuclei or crystallites but continue to exist as an amalgam or solution in mercury. We must remember, however, that even the kinetics of the initial step depends on the electrode material hence, the laws found for mercury cannot be used for other metals. 

Propagation and chain branching both maintain the number of radicals generated by the initiation steps, but affect the polymerization kinetics differently. Propagation increases the... 

An estimate of the rate enhancement associated with the intramolecular phosphorylation can be made by using isopropyl p-nitrophenyl methyl-phosphonate as a model for the covalent intermediate formed in the initial step of the reaction of cycloheptaamylose with bis (p-nitrophenyl) me thy 1-phosphonate. The first-order rate constant for the alkaline hydrolysis of isopropyl p-nitrophenyl methylphosphonate at pH 9.86 can be obtained from the data of van Hooidonk and Groos (1970) kun = 1.4 X 10-5 sec-1. This value may be compared with the maximal rate constant for the reaction of cycloheptaamylose with bis(p-nitrophenyl) methylphosphonate— k2 = 1.59 X 10-1 sec-1 at pH 9.86—which must be a minimal value for the rate of the intramolecular phosphorylation. This comparison implies a kinetic acceleration of at least 104 which is similar to rate enhancements associated with the formation of cyclic phosphates from nucleoside phosphate diesters. 

The temperatures of measurable decay range from room temperature for tetraborane to several thousand degrees for water. While the reactions at high temperature are real dissociations to smaller particles, the decomposition occurring at lower temperatures are generally condensations with the simultaneous formation of hydrogen. In the latter case the possibilities for the initial and subsequent elementary steps increase enormously. In these cases it is extremely difficult to obtain the rate of the initial step and even harder to describe the overall reaction in terms of the kinetics of the single steps. 

The reaction schemes that can be proposed for these alkyls are basically analogous to those discussed for the tetramethyl compound. The initiation step should be Si-C bond rupture followed by various reactions of ethyl and propyl radicals, free radical attack on the parent alkyl and various polymerization processes. Significant chain reactions involving the alkyls are apparently homogeneous processes and lead to first-order kinetics. The rate coefficients for the... 

It would be desirable to be able to use data such as that given in Table 12 to predict Dt values for other methyl metallic alkyls and to set a pattern for ethyl and possibly higher alkyls. These dissociation energies should be approximately equal to the kinetic activation energy for the first stage of dissociation in a nonchain decomposition or to the activation energy of the initiation step in a chain decomposition. 

Despite these important studies, most steps of the reaction mechanism are still only postulated. Therefore, we have decided to undertake a theoretical investigation of the Dotz reaction by discussing whether the reaction proceeds via a dissociative or an associative pathway in the initial steps of the process. We have also analyzed the central part of the reaction, the key issue being whether the reaction proceeds through a vinylketene intermediate (route A) or, instead, via a metallacycloheptadienone (route B). As will be seen, we came across a novel third pathway (route C) that turns out to be the best alternative from thermodynamic and kinetic points of view... 

An S Ar (nucleophilic substitution at aromatic carbon atom) mechanism has been proposed for these reactions. Both nonenzymatic and enzymatic reactions that proceed via this mechanism typically exhibit inverse solvent kinetic isotope effects. This observation is in agreement with the example above since the thiolate form of glutathione plays the role of the nucleophile role in dehalogenation reactions. Thus values of solvent kinetic isotope effects obtained for the C13S mutant, which catalyzes only the initial steps of these reactions, do not agree with this mechanism. Rather, the observed normal solvent isotope effect supports a mechanism in which step(s) that have either no solvent kinetic isotope effect at all, or an inverse effect, and which occur after the elimination step, are kinetically significant and diminish the observed solvent kinetic isotope effect. 

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