Spectrocoulometric study of the hydrolysis of the tris (1,10-phenanthroline)iron(III) complex ion

The spectrocoulometric technique reported earlier is applied to verify the mechanism and to evaluate the contributions k_Bi of the individual bases to the total rate constant k of the hydrolysis of the tris (1,10-phenanthroline) iron(III) complex, Fe (phen)³⁺₃. Both normal and “open-circuit” spectrocoulometric experiments are used. Partial rate constants for four bases in the acetate-buffered solutions are k_H2O=(3.4±1.2) × 10^?4s^?1 (k_H2O includes the H₂O concentration), k_OH=(1.20±0.06)×10⁷ mol^?1dm³s^?1, k_phen=(1.4±0.2) mol^?1dm³s^?1, k_Ac=(3.8±0.3)×10^?2 mol^?1dm³s^?1, at 25°C and ionic strength 0.5 mol dm^?3. The Fe(phen)³⁺³ hydrolysis, with (phen)₂ (H₂O) Fe-O-Fe (H₂O) (phen)⁴⁺² formation, is first order with respect to Fe (phen)³⁺³ and the bases present in the solution. The rate-determining step in the hydrolysis is the entry of a base to the coordinating sphere of the complex, as in the hydrolysis of the analogous 2,2′-bipyridyl complex.