The catalytic effect of palladium(II) on the oxidation of L-tryptophan by potassium hexacyanoferrate( III) has been investigated spectrophotometrically in aqueous perchloric acid medium. A first order dependence in [hexacyanoferrate(III)] and fractional-first order dependences in both [L-tryptophan] and [palladium(II)] were obtained. The reaction exhibits fractional-second order kinetics with respect to [H⁺]. Reaction rate increased with increase in ionic strength and dielectric constant of the medium. The effect of temperature on the reaction rate has also been studied and activation parameters have been evaluated and discussed. Initial addition of the reaction product, hexacyanoferrate(II), does not affect the rate significantly. A plausible mechanistic scheme explaining all the observed kinetic results has been proposed. The final oxidation products are identified as indole-3-acetaldehyde, ammonium ion and carbon dioxide. The rate law associated with the reaction mechanism is derived.

The catalytic effect of ruthenium(III) on the oxidation of N,N-dimethyl-N?-(4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl) formamidine (ATF) by hexacyanoferrate(III) (HCF) was studied spectrophotometrically in aqueous alkalinemedium. Both uncatalyzed and catalyzed reactions showed first order kinetics with respect to [HCF],whereas the reaction orders with respect to [ATF] and $[OH^{-}]$ were apparently less than unity over the concentrationrange studied. A first order dependence with respect to $[Ru^{III}]$ was obtained. Increasing ionic strengthincreased the rate of uncatalyzed reaction and decreased the rate of the catalyzed one Plausible mechanisticschemes of oxidation reactions have been proposed. In both cases, the final oxidation products are identifiedas aminotriazole, dimethyl amine and carbon dioxide. The rate laws associated with the reaction mechanismsare derived. The reaction constants involved in the different steps of the mechanisms were calculated. Theactivation and thermodynamic parameters have been computed and discussed.