Kinetic and mechanistic aspects of the NO oxidation by O2 in aqueous phase

The oxidation kinetics of NO by O₂ in aqueous solution was observed using a stopped flow apparatus. The kinetics follows a third order rate law of the form k · [NO]² · [O₂] in analogy to gas-phase results. The rate constant at 296 K was measured as (6.4 ± 0.8) · 10⁶ M^?2 s^?1 with an activation energy of 2.3 kcal/mol and a preexponential factor of (4.0 ± 0.5) · 10⁸ M^?2 s^?1. The rate constant displays a very slight pH dependence corresponding to less than a factor of three over the range 0 to 12. The system NO/O₂ in aqueous solution is an efficient nitrosating agent which has been tested using phenol as a substrate over the pH range 0 to 12. The rate limiting step leading to formation of 4-nitrosophenol is the formation of the reactive intermediate whose competitive hydrolysis yields HONO or NO₂^?. The absence of NO₃^? in the autoxidation of NO, the exclusive presence of NO₂^? as a product of the nitrosation reaction of phenol, and the kinetic results of the N₃^? trapping experiments point towards N₂O₃ as the reactive intermediate. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.