Oxidation of thioacids by quinaldinium fluorochromate

Abstract

The kinetics of oxidation of thioglycolic, thiolactic and thiomalic acids by quinaldinium fluorochromate [QnFC] has been studied in non aqueous medium. The oxidation kinetics was fol lowed spectrophotometrically in the temperature range of 30–60 C. The reaction shows unit order dependence each with respect to substrate and oxidant. The reaction is catalysed by hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ion dependence takes the form kobs = a + b [H+]. The reaction rate decreases with increasing the concentration of Mn2+ ions. The reaction does not induce polymerization of acrylo nitrile. A plausible mechanism has been proposed for the formation of a thioester and its decom position which occur in the slow step.