Oxidation of aliphatic alcohols by triethylammonium chlorochromate in non-aqueous medium – A kinetic and mechanistic study

The oxidation of some aliphatic alcohols by triethylammonium chlorochromate (TriEACC) in dimethyl sulfoxide leads to the formation of the corresponding carbonyl compounds. The reaction is first order with respect to TriEACC. The reaction exhibited Michaelis–Menten type kinetics with respect to alcohol. The reaction is catalyzed by hydrogen ions. The hydrogen-ion dependence has the form: kobs = a + b[H+]. The oxidation of [1,1-2H2] ethanol (MeCD2OH) exhibits a substantial primary kinetic isotope effect. Oxidation of aliphatic alcohol was studied in 19 different organic solvents. The solvent effect has been analysed using Kamlet’s and Swain’s multi-parametric equation. A suitable mechanism has been proposed.