Kinetics of oxidation of d-glucose by permanganate in aqueous solution of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

The catalytic effect of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on the permanganate oxidation of d-glucose has been studied spectrophotometrically in presence of sulphuric acid. It was observed that the reaction proceeds in two stages (a slow step followed by a relatively fast second step). The influence of different parameters was measured i.e., [reactants], [surfactant], [sulphuric acid] and temperature. The absorbance of the reaction mixture increases with [CTAB] which suggests the association of permanganate with the cationic head group of CTAB. The effect of [surfactant] on the rate constants was explained in terms of the pseudo phase model proposed by Menger and Portnoy and modified by Bunton et al. On the basis of observed kinetic results, a suitable mechanism has been proposed.