Base hydrolysis of mer-trispicolinatoruthenium(III): kinetics and mechanism

The mer-[Ru(pic)3] isomer, where pic is 2-pyridinecarboxylic acid, undergoes base hydrolysis at pH > 12. The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically within the UV–Vis spectral range. The product of the reaction, the [Ru(pic)2(OH)2]− ion, is formed via a consecutive two-stage process. The chelate ring opening is proceeded by the nucleophilic attack of OH− ion at the carbon atom of the carboxylic group and the deprotonation of the attached hydroxo group. In the second stage, the fast deprotonation of the coordinated OH− ligand leads to liberation of the monodentato bonded picolinate. The dependence of the observed pseudo-first-order rate constant on [OH−] is given by \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ k_{{{\text{obs}}1}} = \frac{{k_{ + } k_{1} [{\text{OH}}^{ - } ] + k_{ + } k_{2} K_{1} [{\text{OH}}^{ - } ]^{2} }}{{k_{ - } + k_{1} + \left( {k_{ + } + k_{2} K_{1} } \right)[{\text{OH}}^{ - } ] + k{}_{ + }K_{1} [{\text{OH}}^{ - } ]^{2} }} $$\end{document} and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ \left( {k_{{{\text{obs}}2}} = \frac{{k_{ca} + k_{cb} K_{2} [{\text{OH}}^{ - } ]}}{{1 + K_{2} [{\text{OH}}^{ - } ]}}} \right) $$\end{document} for the first and the second stage, respectively, where k1, k2, k-, kca, kcb are the first-order rate constants and k+ is the second-order one, K1 and K2 are the protolytic equilibria constants.