Organic Iron Complexation Is Real, The Theory Is Used Incorrectly. Comment on ‘Measuring Marine Iron(iii) Complexes by CLE-AdSV’

Environmental Context. The theoretical basis on which Town and van Leeuwen (Environ. Chem. 2005, 2, 80) dispute current ideas on the speciation of iron in seawater is valid only for the simplified condition of the binding of ionic Fe³⁺ with an ionic organic ligand. The possibilities of different pathways for complex formation and dissociation involving mixed hydroxide–organic species, or of different redox states, were not considered. The mismatch with experimental reality shows that the simplification is incorrect.