Every year i search for imposante reactions to show them under the x-mas tree.
This year i found a reaction from the quantum chemistry.
Singulett OxigeniumAs some bees should know , oxigenium in the air has triplett electron konstitution. The energetically higher state is singulett. That means that the two antibinding electrons in the pi-MOs have antiparallel spin while located in one or two MOs-- both is called singulett but they differ also in energie.
Ther are two ways to yield singulett O2
photochemically or chemically
We will try the chemical way, to see the light emission at 633nm when the singulett reacts to triplett O2.
Singulett O2 can develop from peroxogroups.
We will use the Peroxohypochloridacid.
In a 100ml 2-neck flask equipped with fermenting tube and dropping funnel we penetrate 4 g KMnO4 with ca. 5ml conc. HCl solution from the funnel.
2 KMnO4 + 16 HCl --> 5 Cl2 + 8 H2O + 2 MnCl2 + 2KCl
The chlorine from this will react with an alkaline H2O2 solution in the fermenting tube.
Cl2 + 2 OH- --> Cl- + ClO- + H2O
The hypochloride will react with the H2O2
H2O2 + ClO- --> HOOCl + OH-
And in this stage the Peroxohypochloridacid will disintergrate fast
HOOCl ---> HCl +
1O
21O
2 -->
3O
2 + light 633nm (red)
A wonderful reaction and a wonderful light for x-mas.
Try it .