Thermal decomposition kinetics of bis(pyridine)manganese(II) chloride

The thermal stability and the decomposition steps of bis(pyridine)manganese(II) chloride (Mn(py)₂Cl₂) were determined by thermogravimetry and derivative thermogravimetry. The initial compound and the solid compounds resulted from each step of decomposition were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and RX diffraction. It was pointed out that at the progressive heating of Mn(py)₂Cl₂, the following decomposition reactions occur: I $$ {\text{Mn}}\left( {\text{py}} \right)_{ 2} {\text{Cl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, \to {\text{ Mn}}\left( {\text{py}} \right){\text{Cl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, + {\text{ Py }}\left( {\text{g}} \right) $$ II $$ {\text{Mn}}\left( {\text{py}} \right){\text{Cl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, \to {\text{ Mn}}\left( {\text{py}} \right)_{ 2/ 3} {\text{Cl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, + { 1}/ 3 {\text{ Py }}\left( {\text{g}} \right) $$ III $$ {\text{Mn}}\left( {\text{py}} \right)_{ 2/ 3} {\text{Cl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, \to {\text{ MnCl}}_{ 2} \left( {\text{s}} \right) \, + { 2}/ 3 {\text{ Py }}\left( {\text{g}} \right) $$ The dependence of the activation energy of these decompositions steps on the conversion degree, evaluated by isoconversional methods, shows that all decomposition reactions are complex. The mechanism and the corresponding kinetic parameters of reaction (I) were determined by multivariate non-linear regression program and checked for quasi-isothermal data. It was pointed out that the reaction (I) consists of three elementary steps, each step having a specific kinetic triplet.