Oxidation of Ciprofloxacin by Hexacyanoferrate(III) in the Presence of Cu(II) as a Catalyst: A Kinetic Study

The Cu(II)‐catalyzed oxidation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) by hexacyanoferrate(III) (HCF) has been investigated spectrophotometrically in an aqueous alkaline medium at 40°C. The stoichiometry for the reaction indicates that the oxidation of 1 mol of CIP requires 2 mol of HCF. The reaction exhibited first‐order kinetics with respect to HCF] and less than unit order with respect to CIP] and OH⁻]. The products were also identified on the basis of stoichiometric results and confirmed by the characterization results of LC‐MS and FT‐IR analysis. All the possible reactive species of the reactants have been discussed, and a most probable kinetic model has been envisaged. The activation parameters with respect to the slow step of the mechanism were computed, and thermodynamic quantities were also determined.