Kinetics of Oxidative Coupling of Phenols. Oxidation of Guaiacol by Alkaline Hexacyanoferrate(III)

Article abstract of DOI:10.1246/bcsj.56.1855

The reaction between guaiacol and alkaline hexacyanoferrate(III), at constant ionic strength, gave a coupled product, 3:3'-dimethoxydiphenoquinone.The rate of the reaction was dependent on the first orders of the concentrations of substrate, oxidant, and alkali.The rate determining step involved the formation of a radical intermediate, which was detected by ESR spectroscopy.