Kinetics of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in guaiacol solution, catalyzed by hexacyanoferrate(II)

The kinetics of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in a guaiacol solution, catalyzed by potassium hexacyanoferrate(II), were studied. The reaction mainly follows the pathway of guaiacol hydroxylation. The reaction order is 1 with respect to H2O2, 0.5 with respect to hexacyanoferrate, and from 0.4 to 0 with respect to guaiacol (the latter parameter decreases with increasing guaiacol concentration). The apparent activation energy is 105 kJ mol(-1). A kinetic scheme of the process was proposed. An expression consistent with the experiment was obtained for the rate of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in the presence of guaiacol, catalyzed by hexacyanoferrate(II).