The kinetics of the oxidation of some Fe(II)–Tris Schiff base complexes by peroxydisulfate
was studied spectrophotometrically in the aqueous medium and in the organic–
aqua binary mixture. The inspected complexes were derived from the condensation of 2-
acetylpyridine and substituted benzylamines. The oxidation reaction of the studied complexes
was followed at 303 K under pseudo–first-order conditions. It was found that the oxidation
reaction by S2O8
2− consists of two steps. The first step is the formation of an ion pair from the
reactants, and the second step is an electron transfer from the metal center to the peroxydisulfate
oxidant, with an associated peroxo bond fissure. A mechanism, based on the experimental
results, was proposed, and the rate law was derived.