KINETICS OF THE FENTON REACTION

The Fenton reaction is of significant interest due to its applications in chemical, biochemical, and biomedical studies. It allows the assessment of hydroperoxide content in a sample. For such studies, it is necessary to know the reaction characteristics at different ratios of hydroperoxide and ferrous ion concentrations. The reaction yield is determined by measuring chemiluminescence. This work calculates the number of oxidation acts N(Fe²⁺ → Fe³⁺) in the Fenton reaction for the cases [Fe²⁺] > [H₂O₂] and [Fe²⁺] < [H₂O₂] with Fe²⁺ and H₂O₂ concentrations in the range 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁷ mol/L. It is shown that the hydroperoxide concentration can only be unambiguously determined when [Fe²⁺] > [H₂O₂]. In the case [Fe²⁺] < [H₂O₂], the strong decrease in reaction rate makes it difficult to register the full chemiluminescence output. The kinetics of the formation of luminescent products in the Fenton reaction were also calculated after the addition of luminol, which enhances the light emission.

chemiluminescence, Fenton reaction, reagent concentration, luminol, registration time