Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of dimethyl sulfide with molecular oxygen catalysed by K[Ru^III(EDTA-H)Cl] complex in water-dioxan medium

Abstract

Oxidation of dimethyl sulfide (Me₂S) with molecular oxygen catalysed by [Ru^III(EDTA)(H₂O)]⁻1a (EDTA=ethylenediaminetetraacetate anion) was studied spectrophotometrically in water-dioxan medium at constant pH 5.0 (acetic acid-acetate buffer) and ionic strength 0.2 M (KCl). The reaction proceeds through the formation of a [Ru^III(EDTA)(Me₂S)]⁻2 intermediate which undergoes oxidation with molecular oxygen to give dimethyl sulfoxide (Me₂SO) as the oxidation product. The rate of formation of 2 and its decomposition was followed spectrophotometrically by monitoring the reactions at 528 nm the characteristic peak of 2. The rate of formation of 2 was found to be first order in the concentrations of 1a and Me₂S. The rate of decomposition of 2 is independent of the concentration of Me₂S and is half-order with respect to oxygen concentration. Both the formation and decomposition reactions of 2 were studied at different temperatures, and the activation parameters ΔH≠ and ΔS≠ were determined. A suitable mechanism was proposed for the catalytic oxidation of dimethyl sulfide to dimethyl sulfoxide with molecular oxygen.