Mechanistic aspects of oxidation of dextrose by N-bromophthalimide in acidic medium: a micellar kinetic study

Kinetic investigations of oxidation of dextrose by N-bromophthalimide (NBP) in acidic medium in the presence of mercuric(II) acetate as a scavenger have been studied. In both the absence and presence of surfactants, the oxidation kinetics of dextrose by NBP shows a first-order dependence on NBP, fractional order on dextrose, and negative fractional order dependence on sulfuric acid. The determined stoichiometric ratio was 1:1 (dextrose:NBP). The variation of Hg(OAC)₂ and phthalimide (reaction product) have an insignificant effect on reaction rate. Effects of surfactants, added acrylonitrile, added salts, and solvent composition variation have been studied. Activation parameters for the reaction have been evaluated from Arrhenius plot by studying the reaction at different temperature. The rate law has been derived on the basis of obtained data. A plausible mechanism has been proposed from the results of kinetic studies, reaction stoichiometry and product analysis. The role of anionic and non-ionic micelle was best explained by the Berezin’s model.