Micellar effects upon electron transfer from ferrocenes

The oxidations of ferrocene (FcH) and n‐butylferrocene (FcBu) by ferric salts (nitrate or bromide) are strongly inhibited by aqueous cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and nitrate (CTABr and CTANO3, respectively). The kinetics of inhibition fit a model in which the substrates are distributed between water, and the micelles and binding constants Ks to the micelle can be estimated. The oxidations are strongly catalyzed by micelles of sodium lauryl sulfate (NaLS), and the kinetics can be fitted to a model in which the reaction rate depends upon the concentration of both reactants in the micellar pseudophase and the rate constants in that pseudophase, which for both substrates are very similar to those in water. Some added salts reduce the micellar catalysis by excluding ferric ions from the micelle. The oxidations of FcH and FcBu by ferricyanide ions are too fast to be followed in water, but they are inhibited by anionic micelles of NaLS. By analyzing the rate surfactant profiles using independently measured values of Ks the second‐order rate constants in water have been estimated.