Rhodium(III) as a homogeneous catalyst for the oxidative decolorization of ethyl orange with aqueous acidic chloramine-T: a spectrophotometric, kinetic and mechanistic study

The kinetics and mechanism of sodium N-chloro-p-toluenesulfonamide oxidative decolorization of ethyl orange (EO) in aqueous perchloric acid have been studied at 303 K in the presence of rhodium(III) chloride as catalyst. The reaction exhibits first-order dependence on EO]_o and a fractional-order dependence on CAT]_o, H⁺] and Rh^III]. The dielectric effect is positive. The stoichiometry of the reaction was found to be 1:1, and the oxidation products of EO were identified as N-(4-diethylamino-phenyl)-hydroxylamine and 4-nitroso-benzenesulfonic acid. The rhodium(III)-catalyzed reaction is about fourfold faster than the uncatalyzed reaction. The proposed mechanism and derived rate law are in agreement with the observed kinetic results.