Kinetics of the Oxidation of Tartrazine with Peroxydisulfate in the Presence and Absence of Catalysts

Summary.  The food dye tartrazine is oxidized with peroxydisulfate in the absence and in the presence of Ag(I) and Fe(III) catalysts. In the absence of these metal ions, the reaction shows second-order kinetics, first-order in each of the reacting species. With the Ag(I) ion in the medium the reaction proceeds considerably faster, but still follows second-order kinetics. The reaction rate depends on the concentration of Ag(I) and S₂O₈ ²⁻, but is independent of the concentration of the substrate. When Fe(III) acts as the catalyst, a marked enhancement in the reaction rate is observed, and the reaction proceeds through two parallel pathways, the catalyzed and the noncatalyzed. The catalyzed path follows third order kinetics, being first-order in substrate, oxidant, and catalyst concentration. Mechanisms of the noncatalyzed as well as the Ag(I) and Fe(III) catalyzed reaction systems are proposed. Received June 28, 1999. Accepted (revised) September 27, 1999