The kinetics of oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds by potassium ferrate

Potassium ferrate (K₂FeO₄) is highly soluble in water and a very strong oxidizing agent^{(1, 2)}. Other properties include a strong bacteriacidal action which has been documented by Murmann and Robinson⁽¹⁾. These characteristics, and others, suggest that potassium ferrate would be useful in the advanced treatment of municipal waste water. The efficiency of oxidation of various organic compounds by potassium ferrate must be investigated before conclusions can be drawn.When K₂FeO₄ is placed into aqueous solution a purple colour is produced which disappears as K₂FeO₄ is reduced. At a spectrophotometric wavelength of 505 nm this affords a convenient method for measuring the decomposition kinetics of K₂FeO₄.Rate constants were obtained by algorithmic analysis of spectral absorbance data by the Cornell method⁽³⁾. This work will present a mechanism of reaction for oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds by potassium ferrate. The oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds produces the corresponding sulphoxide or sulphone^{(4, 5)} Compounds studied included dimethyl sulphoxide, diethylsulphide, dimethylsulphone, and 2,2-thiodiethanol.