Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Potassium persulfate with ammonium hydroxide

symboom - 20-12-2016 at 16:00

So adding ammonia to potassium peroxymonosulfate(oxone)
Ibe been running test I just cant figure out what has is being produced from this reaction

Nitrogen gas
Nitrous oxide
Nitric oxide

Im guessing those are the only explanation

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

JJay - 20-12-2016 at 17:35

Be careful. You don't want to accidentally gas yourself with hydrazine.

symboom - 20-12-2016 at 17:49

Quote: Originally posted by JJay  
Be careful. You don't want to accidentally gas yourself with hydrazine.

Hydrazine I dont think it will form from this reaction I have performed without acetone or ketone

I did not think of this reaction if it does produce jt

2 NH3 + H2O2 → H2N-NH2 + 2 H2O
In this route, hydrazine is produced in several steps from ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and a ketone such as acetone or methylethyl ketone. The ketone and ammonia first condense to give the imine, which is oxidised by hydrogen peroxide to the oxaziridine, a three-membered ring containing carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Next, the oxaziridine gives the hydrazone by treatment with ammonia, a process creating the nitrogen-nitrogen single bond. This hydrazone condenses with one more equivalent of ketone; the resulting azine is hydrolyzed to give hydrazine and regenerate the ketone. Unlike the Olin Raschig Process, this approach does not produce a salt as a by-product

Reference wikipedia.com excerp

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

JJay - 20-12-2016 at 18:35

I think the presence of chlorine could also cause significant amounts of hydrazine to be formed in the reaction of oxone and ammonia... hydazine is accurately described as an oxidation product of ammonia, but the mechanisms for producing it are pretty finicky... I could see it being formed through an amino radical mechanism from the reaction of oxone and ammonia, though perhaps this does not happen with sufficient prevalence for concern. Do you know for certain that the reaction between oxone and ammonia does not create significant quantities of hydrazine?

symboom - 21-12-2016 at 02:15

I didnt think of hydrazine forming I could test for hydrazine by the reaction with copper sulfate
Should form a copper mirror
I propose to do this by adding the copper sulfate ammonia complex to oxone

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

JJay - 21-12-2016 at 02:56

I don't have a lot of information on amino radical reactions (and while I did have a chem minor in college, I don't know anything about p-chem), but I'm pretty sure hydrazine would be most likely to form if oxone were slowly added to a strong ammonia solution.

I really don't know how effective that would be at producing hydrazine. I am reasonably certain that some would be formed, but I don't know how much... if the rate of the reaction that produces hydrazine only occurs at 1/1000 the rate of the competing reactions, it might not be a measurable amount.

What has to happen is pretty similar to this: Two undisassociated ammonia molecules have to converge on one or more peroxymonosulfate ions and both be converted to amino radicals, which would then have to react with each other before getting destroyed in competing reactions. I'm not sure how uncommon this event would be (it seems reasonable that cold reaction conditions would be most favorable to forming hydrazine), but I am quite certain that it would occur with some frequency. Whether this is a useful synthetic reaction or whether this creates a detectable amount of hydrazine, I'm not sure.

unionised - 21-12-2016 at 03:00

Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
So adding ammonia to potassium peroxymonosulfate(oxone)
Ibe been running test I just cant figure out what has is being produced from this reaction

Nitrogen gas
Nitrous oxide
Nitric oxide

Im guessing those are the only explanation

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]


Given that peroxides decompose to give oxygen- especially under alkaline conditions, do you reallythink those ae the only explanations?

symboom - 21-12-2016 at 03:37

Tetramine cobalt nitrate and oxone produces black cobalt oxide


Tetramine copper sulfate with oxone produces a light blue copper hydroxide percipitate

Proving it is not a peroxide compound
Likewise tetramine copper with hydrogen peroxide produces a brown percipitate

Thank you for the suggestion of hydrazine hope to post pictures of my results

Also you are right the oxone does decompose to oxygen in the liquid especially in presence of transition metal salts



[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

unionised - 21-12-2016 at 03:51

Quote: Originally posted by symboom  
Tetramine cobalt nitrate and oxone produces black cobalt oxide

Tetramine copper sulfate with oxone produces a light blue copper hydroxide percipitate

Proving it is not a peroxide compound
Likewise tetramine copper with hydrogen peroxide produces a brown percipitate

Thank you for the suggestion of hydrazine hope to post pictures of my results

Also you are right the oxone does decompose to oxygen in the liquid especially in presence of transition metal salts


[Edited on 21-12-2016 by symboom]

The two oxygens linked together (and to other things) proves that it is a peroxy compound.
Hydrolysis of persulphates gives peroxides (this was once used as a method for making hydrogen peroxide)
http://www.peroxychem.com/media/90826/aod_brochure_persulfat...

Decomposition of peroxides gives oxygen.