Ce(IV) oxidation of alcohols using cetyltrimethylammonium ceric nitrate

Abstract

Cetyltrimethylammonium ceric nitrate (CTACN) has been used to oxidize some primary aliphatic and alicyclic alcohols in acetonitrile medium and the reaction kinetics have been investigated by spectrophotometric method. The decrease in the rate with increased concentration of CTACN has been attributed to the formation of reversed micelles by the oxidant in organic medium. An asymptotic decrease in rate with increase in [CTAB] supports the reversed micellization in the reaction medium. The plots of rate constants with [substrate] reflect the partitioning of the substrate in the reversed micellar system of CTACN. The kinetic isotope effect (kH/kD) of 1.97 has been attributed to the dehydrogenation mechanism for the oxidation of alcohols.