Reduction of Mercury(II) by the Carbon Dioxide Radical Anion: A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

ANDREA M. BERKOVIC; MÓNICA C. GONZÁLEZ; NINO RUSSO; MARIA C MICHELINI; REINALDO PIS DIEZ; DANIEL O. MÁRTIRE

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Año: 2010 vol. 114 p. 12845 - 12850

1089-5639

The laser flash photolysis technique (λexc ) 266 nm) was used to investigate the mechanism of the HgCl2reduction mediated by CO2·- radicals in the temperature range 291.7-308.0 K. For this purpose, the CO2·-radicals were generated by scavenging of sulfate radicals by formic acid. The absorbance of the reducedradical of methyl viologen, a competitive scavenger of CO2·-, was monitored at 390 nm. Moreover, theoreticalcalculations, including solvent effects, were also performed within the framework of the density functionaltheory for various chemical species of Hg(I) and Hg(II) to aid in the modeling of the reaction of reductionof HgCl2 by CO2·-.