Uranyl-catalyzed chemiluminescent reaction of U4+ oxidation by dioxygen in aqueous HClO4 solution

Chemiluminescence (CL) accompanying the reaction of U⁴⁺ with O₂ in 0.0004–0.1M HClO₄ was studied. It was found that the electron-excited uranyl ion (UO₂ ²⁺)^* is the CL emitter. The fact that the reaction rate and the CL yield increase as the solution acidity decreases was explained by different reactivities of the U _aq ⁴⁺ aquation and the products of its stepwise hydrolysis, UOH³⁺ and U(OH)₂ ²⁺, toward O₂. Based on the results of analysis of the chain-radical mechanism of the reaction between U⁴⁺ and O₂, it was concluded that transfer of an electron from the UO₂ ⁺ ion to the oxidizing agent (a ·OH radical) is the most plausible elementary step of the reaction of (UO₂ ²⁺)^* formation. It was found that the reaction rate, as well as the CL yield, increase substantially in the presence of uranyl ion. Catalytic action of UO₂ ²⁺ was explained by the formation of a UO₂ ²⁺·UO₂ ⁺ complex, which reduces the rate of the UO₂ ⁺ disproportionation reaction (UO₂ ⁺ is an intermediate of the reaction and is involved in chain propagation), and by regeneration of the active center, UO₂ ⁺, in the reaction of UO₂ ²⁺ with U⁴⁺. Published inIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1522–1528, September, 2000.