Question

What type of reaction involves the reaction of oxalate ions and permanganate ions?

Answer 1

It is an example of redox reaction where oxalate ions are oxidized into $CO_2$ and permanganate ions are reduced from $Mn^{+7}$ to $Mn^{+2}$

The reactions are as follows(in acidic solution):

The oxidation half-reaction is:

$5C_2O_4^-\to 10CO_2(g) + 10e^-$

The reduction half-reaction is:

$2MnO_4+ 16H^+ + 10e^- \to 2Mn^{+2}(aq)$ $+ 8H_2O(l)$

In other words, the oxalate ion is oxidized by the permanganate ion (and the permanganate ion is reduced).

The overall balanced redox reaction is the combination of the two balanced half-reactions:

$2MnO^{-4} + 16H^+ + 5C_2O_4^{-2} \to 10CO_2(g) + 2Mn^{+2}(aq) + 8H_2O(l)$