Permanganate oxidation of glycine: Kinetics, catalytic effects, and mechanisms

Abstract

The oxidation of glycine by permanganate ion in aqueous phosphate buffers is autocatalyzed by the soluble form of colloidal manganese dioxide formed as a reaction product. Both the noncatalytic and the catalytic reaction pathways are first order in permanganate, the noncatalytic pathway is also first order in glycine, whereas the catalytic pathway has a kinetic order unity for the autocatalytic agent and a non-integral order (1.31) for glycine. Both reaction pathways are accelerated by an increase in the pH of the medium, whereas an increase in the buffer concentration at constant pH results in an increase in the rate of the noncatalytic pathway and a decrease in the rate of the catalytic one. Additions of potassium chloride to the solutions have no kinetic effect on the reaction. The apparent activation energies of the noncatalytic and catalytic reaction pathways are 64.5 and 62.0 kJ mol−1, respectively. On the other hand, manganese(II), thiosulfate, and hexacyanoferrate(II) ions, as well as benzyltriethylammonium chloride and arabic gum, have all been found to increase the initial reaction rate. Mechanisms in concordance with the experimental findings are proposed.