[auto4590]

I am a 3rd year biochemistry student and I have never taken inorganic chemistry since it is not required in my program, however one of my assignments requires me to draw the mechanism for this reaction. I have no idea where to start. Any directions please? I have searched on Google for everything I can, but I found nothing helpful. All my instructor told me about this is that it is a SET mechanism. Please help

[Borek]

I am not sure what kind of the answer is expected. You can't find anything as inorganic chemistry doesn't deal with "mechanisms" as organic chemistry does, at best it is a matter of finding out what are consecutive steps (as in chemical kinetics).

[auto4590]

I didn't know mechanisms were not a thing in inorganic chemistry, thank you for enlightening me. Do you have any suggestions about who would know the mechanism? Perhaps the other boards on this website? According to my instructor, this reaction has an arrow pushing mechanism with single-headed arrows representing single electron transfers

[Hunter2]

Start in this way, if you dissolve SnCl2 in water. What Do you get.
In alcaline solution what kind of ions are present.
One hint SnO is not or less water  soluble. Can you solve the puzzle?

[auto4590]

Could it be something as simple as this?

[Hunter2]

Yes I think so.
But I would it describe like this.
SnCl2(s) => Sn2+(aq) + 2 Cl-(aq), dissolving in water

Alcaline means OH- is present

Sn2+(aq) + 2 OH-(aq) => Sn(OH)2(s) => SnO(s) + H2O

Don't use the spectator ions like Na+ etc., because we don't know them.

[auto4590]

Thank you so much!! I included Na as I will use NaOH in the experiment I will do next week

Can you please also help me with this?? https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=115409.0
This is the mechansim I came up with (see first picture), but like I said, I don’t feel confident about it at all… in the experiment I will do next week, I was told to use 3.0 mmol of nitroacetophenone and 8.4 mmol of tin, so I doubt the ratio tin/nitroacetophenone is 3:1 like in my mechanism because that would make the substrate (nitroacetophenone) also the limiting reagent… my instructor also said that this mechanism should be one electron transfer at a time from tin to N. And the experiment introduction says that at the end of the reaction tin will be in its Sn (II) form, then it will be converted to SnO, so that makes me assume that each Sn° atom donates 2 electrons to N and becomes Sn²⁺ /Sn (II) and that is why I end up with this weird 3:1 tin/nitroacetophenone ratio. One last thing, the image I originally tried to post the link, I will attach it here as the second image. My instructor already said that mechanism is incorrect and that Sn never forms a bond with nitrogen

[Hunter2]

Check Bechamp Reduction. The reducer is hydrogen, Fe, Sn, Zn, etc. deliver electrons and built Hydroxide.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9champ_reduction