IChO 2010 · Theory problem 3

Chemical oxygen demand

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) refers to the amount of oxidizable substance, such as organic compounds, in a sample solution, and it is used as an indication of water quality in seas, lakes, and marshes. For example, the COD of service water is kept below \(1\ \mathrm{mg\,dm^{-3}}\). The COD (\(\mathrm{mg\,dm^{-3}}\)) is represented by mass of \(\ce{O2}\) (mg) which accepts the same amount of electrons which would be accepted by the strong oxidizing agent when \(1\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) of a sample solution is treated with it. An example of the operation is presented below.

Analytical Operation

A sample solution with a volume of \(1.00\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) was acidified with a sufficient amount of sulphuric acid, and chloride ions were removed by the addition of silver nitrate solution. A volume of \(1.00\cdot10^{-1}\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) of potassium permanganate solution (\(c=5.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}\)) was added to the sample solution, and the mixture was heated for 30 min. Further, a volume of \(1.00\cdot10^{-1}\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) of disodium oxalate (\(\ce{Na2C2O4}\) or \(\ce{NaOOC-COONa}\)) standard solution (\(c=1.25\cdot10^{-2}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}\)) was added, and the mixture was stirred well. Oxalate ions that remained unreacted were titrated with potassium permanganate solution (\(c=5.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}\)). A volume of \(3.00\cdot10^{-2}\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) of the solution was used for the titration.

3.1 Give the equation of the redox reaction of potassium permanganate and disodium oxalate.

3.2 Calculate the mass of \(\ce{O2}\) (in mg) that will oxidize the same number of moles of oxidizable substance as \(1.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{dm^3}\) of potassium permanganate solution with a concentration of \(5.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}\) does.

3.3 From the following choices, select the most appropriate reason for the removal of chloride ions:

[A] Some of the chloride ions react with potassium permanganate, resulting in an error in COD.

[B] Some of the chloride ions react with disodium oxalate, resulting in an error in COD.

[C] Some of the chloride ions react with organic compounds in the sample solution, resulting in an error in COD.

[D] A colour is developed during titration, resulting in an error in COD.

3.4 Calculate the COD (\(\mathrm{mg\,dm^{-3}}\)) of the sample solution described in the analytical operation above.

Official English text of the problem.

Answers

  • 3.1 The balanced net ionic equation is \[ \boxed{\ce{2MnO4- + 5C2O4^2- + 16H+ -> 2Mn^2+ + 10CO2 + 8H2O}}. \] Species names and SMILES are given in the solution.
  • 3.2 \(\boxed{0.200\ \mathrm{mg}}\) of dioxygen, \(\ce{O2}\), SMILES O=O.
  • 3.3 \(\boxed{\text{[A]}}\). Chloride consumes permanganate, increasing the apparent COD.
  • 3.4 \(\boxed{\mathrm{COD}=6.00\ \mathrm{mg\,dm^{-3}}}\).

Solution

3.1 — Permanganate–oxalate reaction

The species participating in the net ionic reaction are:

Formula Name SMILES
\(\ce{MnO4-}\) Permanganate ion [O-][Mn](=O)(=O)=O
\(\ce{C2O4^2-}\) Oxalate ion [O-]C(=O)C(=O)[O-]
\(\ce{H+}\) Hydrogen ion (proton) [H+]
\(\ce{Mn^2+}\) Manganese(II) ion [Mn+2]
\(\ce{CO2}\) Carbon dioxide O=C=O
\(\ce{H2O}\) Water O

The permanganate SMILES is a formal bond representation; the ion has tetrahedral geometry.

In acidic solution, manganese is reduced from oxidation state \(+7\) to \(+2\), accepting five electrons:

\[ \ce{MnO4- + 8H+ + 5e- -> Mn^2+ + 4H2O}. \]

Each carbon atom in oxalate is oxidized from \(+3\) to \(+4\), so each oxalate ion releases two electrons:

\[ \ce{C2O4^2- -> 2CO2 + 2e-}. \]

Multiplying the first half-reaction by 2 and the second by 5 cancels ten electrons:

\[ \boxed{\ce{2MnO4- + 5C2O4^2- + 16H+ -> 2Mn^2+ + 10CO2 + 8H2O}}. \]

Thus, \(2\) mol of permanganate react with \(5\) mol of oxalate.

3.2 — Oxygen equivalent of the permanganate solution

Dioxygen, \(\ce{O2}\) (O=O), accepts four electrons per molecule when reduced to water:

\[ \ce{O2 + 4H+ + 4e- -> 2H2O}. \]

The specified volume contains

\[ n(\ce{MnO4-}) = (5.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol\,dm^{-3}}) (1.00\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{dm^3}) = 5.00\cdot10^{-6}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

Since each permanganate ion accepts five electrons, the equivalent amount of oxygen is

\[ n(\ce{O2}) = \frac54n(\ce{MnO4-}) = 6.25\cdot10^{-6}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

Using \(M(\ce{O2})=32.0\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}}\),

\[ m(\ce{O2}) = (6.25\cdot10^{-6}\ \mathrm{mol}) (32.0\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}}) (10^3\ \mathrm{mg\,g^{-1}}) = \boxed{0.200\ \mathrm{mg}}. \]

3.3 — Reason for removing chloride

Chloride ions, \(\ce{Cl-}\) ([Cl-]), can be oxidized by acidified permanganate to chlorine, \(\ce{Cl2}\) (ClCl):

\[ \ce{2Cl- -> Cl2 + 2e-}. \]

Combining this with permanganate reduction gives

\[ \ce{2MnO4- + 10Cl- + 16H+ -> 2Mn^2+ + 5Cl2 + 8H2O}. \]

This reaction consumes some of the permanganate. That consumption would be included in the measured oxygen demand and would therefore increase the apparent COD. The correct choice is [A].

Silver nitrate supplies silver(I) ions, \(\ce{Ag+}\) ([Ag+]), which remove chloride by precipitating silver chloride, \(\ce{AgCl}\) ([Ag+].[Cl-]):

\[ \ce{Ag+ + Cl- -> AgCl(s)}. \]

The silver chloride SMILES specifies its ionic composition; it does not encode the solid’s crystal lattice.

3.4 — COD of the sample

The initial amount of permanganate is

\[ n_0(\ce{MnO4-}) = (1.00\cdot10^{-1})(5.00\cdot10^{-3}) = 5.00\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

The amount of oxalate added after heating is

\[ n_{\mathrm{added}}(\ce{C2O4^2-}) = (1.00\cdot10^{-1})(1.25\cdot10^{-2}) = 1.25\cdot10^{-3}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

This oxalate first consumes the permanganate remaining after oxidation of the sample. The excess oxalate is then measured by titration.

The final titration uses

\[ n_{\mathrm{titration}}(\ce{MnO4-}) = (3.00\cdot10^{-2})(5.00\cdot10^{-3}) = 1.50\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

From the \(2:5\) permanganate-to-oxalate ratio, the excess oxalate is

\[ n_{\mathrm{excess}}(\ce{C2O4^2-}) = \frac52(1.50\cdot10^{-4}) = 3.75\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

Therefore, the oxalate that reacted with the residual permanganate was

\[ n_{\mathrm{reacted}}(\ce{C2O4^2-}) = 1.25\cdot10^{-3}-3.75\cdot10^{-4} = 8.75\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

The permanganate remaining after oxidation of the sample was consequently

\[ n_{\mathrm{remaining}}(\ce{MnO4-}) = \frac25(8.75\cdot10^{-4}) = 3.50\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

Hence, the sample consumed

\[ n_{\mathrm{sample}}(\ce{MnO4-}) = 5.00\cdot10^{-4}-3.50\cdot10^{-4} = 1.50\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}. \]

The equivalent oxygen mass is

\[ \begin{aligned} m(\ce{O2}) &= \frac54(1.50\cdot10^{-4}\ \mathrm{mol}) (32.0\ \mathrm{g\,mol^{-1}}) (10^3\ \mathrm{mg\,g^{-1}})\\ &=6.00\ \mathrm{mg}. \end{aligned} \]

COD is expressed per volume of the original sample, which was \(1.00\ \mathrm{dm^3}\):

\[ \boxed{ \mathrm{COD} = \frac{6.00\ \mathrm{mg}}{1.00\ \mathrm{dm^3}} = 6.00\ \mathrm{mg\,dm^{-3}} }. \]

As a check, the added oxalate has exactly the electron capacity of the initial permanganate. Thus, the final \(30.0\ \mathrm{mL}\) titration corresponds directly to the sample’s demand. From part 3.2, each \(1.00\ \mathrm{mL}\) corresponds to \(0.200\ \mathrm{mg}\) of oxygen, giving \(30.0\times0.200=6.00\ \mathrm{mg}\).

The solution was checked against the official solution.