Cardinali et al. proposed an interesting procedure to balance double disproportionations (J. Chem. Educ.1995,72, 716). The combination of two reactions containing suitable "extraneous" species as co-reactant and co-product can be used to balance not only "pure" double disproportionations, but double redox reactions, too. For example, we can balance the equation
KI + H2O + C2H5OH --> K2CO3 + H2 +
CHI3
by introducing KOH as "extraneous" species into the two redox reactions between C2H5OH and H2O:
C2H5OH + H2O + 4KOH = 2K2CO3 + 6H2
C2H5OH + 6KI + 5H2O = 2CHI3 + 4H2 + 6KOH
After eliminating the "extraneous" species KOH, we obtain the balanced redox equation:
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