Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of L-α-amino-n-butyric acid by permanganate in acid medium

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4601(1996)28:11<799::AID-KIN2>3.0.CO;2-I

The kinetic study of the oxidation of L-α-amino-n-butyric acid by permanganate ions has been carried out in buffered acid medium at pH = 1-3, using a spectrophotometric technique. An auto-catalytic effect has been observed in all cases due to Mn²⁺ ions formed as a product of the reaction. A first-order reaction with respect to the amino acid and the permanganate ions in both processes, catalyzed and uncatalyzed was obtained. The influence of several factors (pH, temperature, ionic strength, and reactants concentration) on the rate constants has also been investigated. In this article we propose a reaction mechanism in accordance with the experimental results obtained.