Kinetics and mechanism of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in the presence of the tetraaquapalladium(II) complex

Kinetics of hydrogen peroxide decomposition in the presence of the tetraaquapalladium(II) complex in an aqueous solution at 40–70 °C was studied. The reaction rate is the first order with respect to the concentration of both PdII and H2O2 and the negative first order with respect to perchloric acid. Using free radicals traps, the reaction mechanism was found to differ from the traditional free-radical mechanism known for d-metal aqua ions and proceeds without generation of hydroxyl radicals. The kinetic data obtained suggest a mechanism involving the formation of an intermediate palladium complex with oxygen.