Kinetics and Mechanism of Oxidation of Xylitol and Galactitol by Hexacyanoferrate(III) Ion in Aqueous Alkaline Medium

Article abstract of DOI:10.1007/BF00904678

Kinetics of oxidation of xylitol and galactitol by hexacyanoferrate(III) ion in aqueous alkaline medium is reported.The reaction rate is of first order with respect to hexacyanoferrate(III) in each substrate.The reaction is first order at lower concentrations of xylitol and galactitol and tends towards zero order as the concentration increases.Similarly first order kinetics was obtained with respect to hydroxide ion at lower concentrations and tends to lower order at higher concentration in the oxidation of xylitol; in the oxidation of galactitol the reaction isfirst order with respect to hydroxide ion even up to manyfold variation.The course of reaction has been considered to proceed through the formation of an activated complex between (2-) and substrate anion which decomposes slowly into radical and (3-).A probable reaction mechanism is proposed. - Keywords: Galactitol; Kinetics; Mechanism; Oxidation; Reduction; Xylitol