Reaction Mechanisms Water dissociation

The mechanism by which Lewis-acids can be expected to affect the rate of the Diels-Alder reaction in water is depicted in Scheme 2.6. The first step in the cycle comprises rapid and reversible coordination of the Lewis-acid to the dienophile, leading to a complex in which the dienophile is activated for reaction with the diene. After the irreversible Diels-Alder reaction, the product has to dissociate from the Lewis-acid in order to make the catalyst available for another cycle. The overall... 

The vital step in the reaction mechanism appears to be the formation of the intermediate ( CHOf s, which facilitates the overall reaction. The kinetics of its further desorption and/or oxidation into reaction products are the key steps of the mechanism, leading to complete oxidation. An alternative path to the spontaneous formation of the poisoning species, Eq. (21), is its oxidation, with OH species arising from the dissociation of water according to the following reactions ... 

For a precipitated iron catalyst, several authors propose that the WGS reaction occurs on an iron oxide (magnetite) surface,1213 and there are also some reports that the FT reaction occurs on a carbide surface.14 There seems to be a general consensus that the FT and WGS reactions occur on different active sites,13 and some strong evidence indicates that iron carbide is active for the FT reaction and that an iron oxide is active for the WGS reaction,15 and this is the process we propose in this report. The most widely accepted mechanism for the FT reaction is surface polymerization on a carbide surface by CH2 insertion.16 The most widely accepted mechanism for the WGS reaction is the direct oxidation of CO with surface 0 (from water dissociation).17 Analysis done on a precipitated iron catalyst using bulk characterization techniques always shows iron oxides and iron carbides, and the question of whether there can be a sensible correlation made between the bulk composition and activity or selectivity is still a contentious issue.18... 

The isotope effect is observed with the hydrogen atom of the formate and not with the hydrogen atom of the water molecule. The result is similar to that observed on ZnO, where the ratedetermining step of the formate decomposition is suggested to be dissociation of the CH bond of the bidentate formate. In summary, the reaction mechanism for the catalytic WGS reaction on Rh/Ce02 is essentially the same as that on ZnO. 

It has been shown that the interpretation of catalytic reactions involving group VIII transition metals in terms of n complex adsorption possesses considerable advantages over classical theories by providing a link between theoretical parameters and chemical properties of aromatic reagents and catalysts. The concept has led to the formulation of a number of reaction mechanisms. In heavy water exchange the dissociative tt complex substitution mechanism appears to predominate it could also play a major role when deuterium gas is used as the second reagent. The dissociative mechanism resolves the main difficulties of the classical associative and dissociative theories, in particular the occurrence... 

Solvolysis studies of meta- and para-substituted phenyl phosphates (240) in anhydrous Bu OH and in Am OH have revealed that generally reactions of dianions are much faster in alcohols than in water. For example, the dianion of p-nitrophenyl phosphate (240 X = 4-NO2) reacts 7500- and 8750-fold faster in Bu OH and Am OH, respectively, than in water." The results of a theoretical study of the reactivity of phosphate monoester anions in aqueous solution do not support the generally accepted view that Brpnsted coefficients fhg = —1.23 and jSnuc = 0.13 determined more than 30 years ago for the uncatalysed reaction of water and a monophosphate dianion (241) represent conclusive evidence for the dissociative mechanism. It is suggested that, instead, the observed LFERs could correspond to a late transition state in the associative mechanism." ... 

The objective of this work Is to establish a reaction mechanism between sodium perborate and several organophosphorus esters. By analogy we can then describe Its probable effects upon other phosphorus-based Insecticides. We conclude that the reactivity of sodium perborate toward five model compounds Is attributable to the nucleophilic reactions of hydroperoxyl anion, HO2 , produced by perborate dissociation In water. On this basis we predict that sodium perborate solutions will be effective chemical detoxicants for phosphorus ester Insecticides. 

This may be explained by the bifunctional theory of electrocatalysis developed by Watanabe and Motoo [14], according to which Pt activates the dissociative chemisorption of methanol to CO, whereas Ru activates and dissociates water molecules, leading to adsorbed hydroxyl species, OH. A surface oxidation reaction between adsorbed CO and adsorbed OH becomes the rate-determining step. The reaction mechanism can be written as follows [15] ... 

In this reaction mechanism, three or four Pt sites are involved in methanol dissociation, whereas only one Ru site is involved in water activation, so that the best Pt/Ru atomic ratio is between 3 1 and 4 1 [15]. 

A number of important structural aspects of zinc complexes as found in enzymes are introduced in this section to serve as background information for the subsequent sections. Aquated Zn(II) ions exist as octahedral [Zn(H20)6] + complexes in aqueous solution. The coordinated water molecules are loosely bound to the Zn + metal center and exchange rapidly with water molecules in the second coordination sphere (see Figure 1) with a rate constant of ca 10 s at 25 °C extrapolated from complex-formation rate constants of Zn + ions with a series of nucleophiles. The mechanism of the water exchange reaction on Zn(II) was studied theoretically, from which it was concluded that the reaction follows a dissociative mechanism as outlined in Figure 2. ... 

The examples cited above illustrate the difficulties of deciding the state of hydration of the species involved in an equilibrium on the basis of solvent isotope effects. This discussion has certain parallels in problems of reaction mechanism where the degree of involvement of water in the transition state (distinction between A-l and A-2 reactions) is at issue. By analogy with the conclusions reached for the dissociation of polybasic acids we may anticipate that it will similarly not be easy to settle such questions by the measurement of rate constants in H20-DzO mixtures. 

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