Nitrogen Compounds and Oxyanions

The oxidation of OH by [Fe(CN)6] in solution has been examined. Application of an electrical potential drives the reaction electrochemically, rather than merely generating a local concentration of OH at the anode, as has been suggested previously, to produce both O and [Fe(CN)6] in the vicinity of the same electrode. With high [OH ] or [Fe(CN)6] /[Fe(CN)6] ratio, the reaction proceeds spontaneously with a second-order rate constant of 2.2 x 10 M s at 25 °C. Under anaerobic conditions, iron(III) porphyrin complexes in dimethyl sulfoxide solution are reduced to the iron(II) state by addition of hydroxide ion or alkoxide ions. Excess hydroxide ion serves to generate the hydroxoiron(II) complex. The oxidation of hydroxide and phenoxide ions in acetonitrile has been characterized electrochemically in the presence of transition metal complexes [Mn(II)L] [M = Fe,Mn,Co,Ni L = (OPPh2)4,(bipy)3] and metalloporphyrins, M(por) [M = Mn(III), Fe(III), Co(II) por = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylpor-phinato(2-), 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)porphinato(2-)]. Shifts to less positive potentials for OH and PhO are suggested to be due to the stabilization of the oxy radical products (OH and PhO ) via a covalent bond. Oxidation is facilitated by an ECE mechanism when OH is in excess. 

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The rules for naming binary molecular compounds are sometimes confused with those for naming polyatomic oxyan-ions. The critical difference in the formulas of the two species is that ions have charges and molecules do not. NO2 is uncharged, and therefore it is a binary molecular compound. Its name is nitrogen dioxide. NO2 has a charge therefore it is an oxyanion. Its name is nitrite ion. 

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