Kinetics and Mechanism of Iridium(Ⅲ)-Catalyzed Oxidation of Ethanol Amine by Cerium(Ⅳ) in Sulfuric Acid Media

In this study, the kinetics and mechanism of the iridium(Ⅲ)-catalyzed oxidation of ethanol amine(EAN) by cerium(Ⅳ) in a sulfuric acid medium was investigated using titrimetric technique of redox in a temperature range of 298—313 K. It was found that the reaction is of first order with respect to Ce(Ⅳ) and Ir(Ⅲ), and a positive fractional order with respect to EAN. It was also found that the pseudo-first-order([EAN][Ce(Ⅳ)]) rate constant kobs decreases with the increase of [H+] and [HSO-4]. Under the protection of nitrogen gas, the reaction system can initiate the polymerization of acrylonitrile, indicating the generation of free radicals. On the basis of the experimental results, a suitable mechanism was proposed. From the dependence of kobs on the concentration of hydrogen sulfate, Ce(SO4)2 was found to be the kinetically active species. The rate constants of the rate-determining step together with the activation parameters were evaluated.