The photolysis of trioxalatogermanate(IV) in aqueous solution. II. Kinetics and mechanism

Abstract

The photolysis of the trioxalatogermanate(IV) ion has been investigated kinetically in an effort to solve the problems arising from a previous investigation. The decomposition rate has been measured spectrophotometrically in terms of the rate of formation of the photolysis product, which shows a distinctive absorption in the charge transfer region. The principal feature of the proposed photolysis mechanism is the photoactivation of the bioxalate ion, which subsequently interacts with the oxyoxalatogermanate(IV) ion to produce a divalent germanium oxalato compound as photolysis product.