Catalysed Oxidation of Amino Acid in Aqueous Alkaline Medium

Kinetics of ruthenium (III) catalysed oxidation of essential amino acid, arginine by hexacyanoferrate (III) has been carried out in aqueous alkaline medium at 35°C.The rate of the reaction shows first order dependence on hexacyanoferrate (III). The reaction rate is first order at low concentrations of amino acid and alkali both and tends towards zero order at higher concentrations of substrate and alkali. The rate of reaction shows first order kinetics with respect to ruthenium (III) chloride. The variation of ionic strength of the medium and the addition of the initially added product show no effect on the rate of the reaction.There is no effect of dielectric constant on the reaction rate. The reaction was studied at different temperatures and activation parameters have been computed. The rate laws proposed and derived are in agreement with experimental results and a plausible mechanism is proposed.