Reduction of Ruthenium(IV) to Ruthenium(III) in Aqueous Alcohol Solutions of Hydrochloric Acid under Microwave Radiation

The behavior of a kinetically inert form of ruthenium(IV), the -oxo-bis-[pentachlororuthenate(IV)] ion [Ru₂OCl₁₀]^4–, was studied in aqueous alcohol solutions of hydrochloric acid under microwave radiation and upon the heating of the solutions. The conditions were selected for the quantitative reduction of ruthenium(IV) to ruthenium(III) with alcohols in 0.6–10 M HCl solutions in a microwave field. The maximum time it takes to reduce ruthenium(IV) under microwave radiation (30 min) was an order of magnitude shorter than that for heating the solutions in a boiling water bath. Regardless of the type of alcohol, the most rapid reduction of ruthenium(IV) was observed at the boundaries of the studied range of hydrochloric acid concentrations. It was found that, under microwave radiation, thermal effects were the driving force of the process in a 0.6 M HCl solution at 98°C, whereas, in 8–10 M HCl solutions, the contributions of nonthermal and thermal effects were comparable. It was shown that the reducing ability of saturated monoatomic C₁–C₄ alcohols increases with the number of carbon atoms and is also due to specific features of microwave radiation.