Superoxometal-catalyzed co-oxidation of alcohols and nitrous acid with molecular oxygen

A superoxochromium(III) ion, Cr_aqOO²⁺, acts as a catalyst for the co-oxidation of alcohols and nitrous acid with molecular oxygen according to the stoichiometry: CH₃OH+HNO₂+O₂→CH₂O + NO₃^? + H₂O+H⁺. The kinetics are second order in HNO₂] and independent of the concentrations of the superoxochromium catalyst, substrate, and O₂. The proposed mechanism features the disproportionation of HNO₂ to NO and NO₂, both of which react rapidly with Cr_aqOO²⁺. The Cr_aqOO²⁺/NO reaction generates another equivalent of NO₂ and a mole of Cr_aqO²⁺, the active oxidant. The two-electron oxidation of the alcohol by Cr_aqO²⁺ produces Cr_aq²⁺, which reacts rapidly with O₂ to regenerate the catalyst, Cr_aqOO²⁺. The NO₂/Cr_aqOO²⁺ reaction yields the peroxynitrato complex, Cr_aqOONO₂²⁺, in a dead-end equilibrium process that has no effect on the catalytic reaction. The disproportionation of NO₂ yields the final nitrogen-containing product, NO₃^?, and regenerates an equivalent of HNO₂. Under a fixed set of conditions, the relative catalytic efficiency (CE) of Cr_aqOO²⁺ decreases as its concentration increases owing to the competition between O₂ and Cr_aqOO²⁺ for the intermediate Cr_aq²⁺.