500
When a basic solution of KMnO4 is added to an SnCl2 solution, a brown precipitate of MnO2 forms and Sn4+ remains in solution. When the same basic solution of KMnO4 is added to an NaF solution, no reaction occurs. Which of the substances involved in these reactions serves as the best reducing agent?
a)SnCl2
b) KMnO4
c) NaF
d) MnO2
e) Sn4+
What is Answer: a)
The Sn2+, from SnCl2, reduces the manganese from +7 to +4. This makes SnCl2 a reducing agent. The tin is oxidized to Sn4+, so KMnO4 is an oxidizing agent. NaF did nothing, so it behaves as neither an oxidizing nor as a reducing agent.