Kinetics and mechanism of reduction of silver(I) by ascorbic acid
Abstract
The kinetics of reduction of silver(I) have been studied in perchloric acid solution using ascorbic acid (AH2) as the reducing agent. First-order dependences on ascorbic acid and silver(I) concentrations are exhibited, together with an inverse first-order dependence on [H+]. The influence of ionic strength (I < 0·08M) is negligible. The activation energy is 10·6 ± 0·2 kcal mol–1. A mechanism for the reduction process is proposed which involves bimolecular rate-determining reaction between ascorbate ion and silver(I).