S. Zaheer Ahmed, S. Syed Shafi and S. Sheik Mansoor
The kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of lactic acid (LA) by pyridinium fluorochromate (PFC) has been studied by spectrophotometric method in 50% acetic acid – 50% water (v/v) medium in a temperature range of 298 K- 313 K. Under the conditions of the pseudo-first order, the reaction follows first order with respect to [LA], [H+] and [PFC]. The reaction is catalysed by perchloric acid. There is no salt effect. The rate increases with increase in the percentage of acetic acid and the plot of log kobs versus 1/D is linear with a positive slope indicating the positive ion – dipole nature of the reaction. Activation parameters have been evaluated. Based on the experimental results, a probable reaction mechanism of oxidation was proposed.
