Kinetics and Mechanism of Oxidation of Captopril by Hexacyanoferrate(III) in Aqueous Acidic Medium

Captopril (Capt, 1-[2(s)-3-mercapto-2-methyl-1-oxopropyl]-l-proline) was oxidized by hexacyanoferrate(III) (HCF). The kinetics of the oxidation was studied spectrophotometrically at 420 nm. The reaction was found to be first order in [HCF] and [Capt] and to have a negative fractional order in [H⁺]. Oxidation was followed by generation of a free radical from captopril, and the oxidative product of catpotpril was identified as captopril disulfide. It was characterized by IR, GCMS and ESI–MS spectra. Initially added product, hexacyanoferrate(II), retarded the rate of reaction with an order of ?0.5. The retarding effect of added [H⁺] indicated that unprotonated hexacyanoferrate(III) is the active species. A suitable free radical mechanism was proposed. The rate law was derived and verified.