Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reaction of the Bis(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) Ion with Hydrogen Peroxide in Aqueous Solution

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00241a015

Investigations of the reaction of the bis(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(I) ion, Cu(phen)2⁺, with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a scavenger (RH=methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, or formate ion) and of the reactions initiated by radiation-produced hydroxyl free radical, OH^., in similar systems in the absence of H2O2 show OH^. is not formed by the Cu(phen)2⁺ + H2O2 reaction.The observed kinetics and stoichiometry of this reaction are interpreted in terms of a mechanism involving an intermediate, possibly a Cu-H2O2 complex, formed by reaction of Cu(phen)2⁺ with H2O2.The rate constant for the reaction of this intermediate with RH is smaller, by a factor of at least 1E4, than that for the reaction of OH^. with RH.