Kinetics and Mechanism of the Autocatalyzed Oxidation of Theophylline by Permanganate in Aqueous Perchloric Acid Medium

The reaction kinetics for the oxidation of theophylline by permanganate ions have been investigated in perchloric acid medium using spectrophotometric techniques at 25?^°C, and at constant ionic strength 1.60 mol?dm^?3, under pseudo first order conditions. An autocatalyzed reaction is observed due to one of the products formed is Mn(II). The orders with respect to theophylline and Mn(VII) were both found to be unity, whereas fractional order is observed with respect to the autocatalyst, Mn(II). The rate of the reaction increases as the concentration of acid increases, but the order with respect to acid concentration is less than unity. The influence of temperature on the rate of reaction was studied. Based on the experimental results a suitable mechanism is proposed. The activation and thermodynamic parameters were determined with respect to slow reaction step.