Abstract
The hydrolysis of iodine plays an important role in many inorganic and organic redox and substitution reactions. It is also a component reaction of many chemical oscillators. Surprisingly, there are only two direct measurements of the kinetics of this reaction: Eigen and Kustin1 (1962) and Palmer and van Eldik2 (1986). Both groups studied the kinetics of the reaction by temperature-jump; yet, even though both groups obtained similar relaxation times, they reported substantially different rate constants. We have analyzed both studies and find that Palmer andvan Eldik’s contains several inconsistencies in interpretation. We address these problems in detail and present a consistent set of rate and equilibrium constants for this apparently simple but actually complex system.