The effect of hydrocarbon chain length in normal aliphatic alcohols on their reaction with oxygen adsorbed on polycrystalline platinum electrode

The reaction of adsorbed oxygen (O_ads) with aliphatic alcohols n-C _n H_{2n + 1}OH with n = 2–5 is studied by the method of transients of open-circuit potential in combination with potentiodynamic pulses. It is shown that these alcohols react with O_ads by a mechanism the same as for CH₃OH. Kinetic parameters of these reactions are determined in ranges of high and medium surface coverages with O_ads. These data together with analogous results obtained earlier for CH₃OH were studied with the aim of elucidating how the length of the hydrocarbon chain affects the kinetics of interaction of alcohols with O_ads. The complex variations of the reaction rate with n (with a maximum) are explained by several factors among which the energy of the C–H bond at α-carbon atom and the degree hydration of alcohols should be singled out.