Oxidative cleavage of guanidine hydrochloride by alkaline permanganate

Abstract

The oxidation of guanidine hydrochloride (GH) by alkaline permanganate has 1:2 stoichiometry and exhibits unit order in [MnO₄^-], less than unit order in [GH] and zero order in [OH^-]. The reaction proceeds via formation of an oxidant-substrate complex and its subsequent decomposition to yield a free radical of guanidine hydrochloride which is followed by further fast steps to give the products. The reaction constants involved in the mechanism and the activation parameters have been computed. There is a good agreement between the observed and calculated rate constants under different experimental conditions.