THE pH AND pD DEPENDENCE OF THE SPONTANEOUS AND MAGNESIUM-ION-CATALYZED DECARBOXYLATION OF OXALACETIC ACID

Abstract
Spectrophotometric studies of the spontaneous and magnesium-ion-catalyzed decarboxylation of oxalacetic acid in H2O and D2O have been carried out over a range of pH, pD, and magnesium ion concentrations.The rate of decarboxylation of oxalacetic acid depends on the proposed equilibrium system between the acid anion and magnesium chelate under a variety of conditions.The absorbancy indexes and the apparent equilibrium constant of the keto and enol forms of the magnesium chelate were estimated from a combination of the kinetic and spectral data.