Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of some cyclic and acyclic ketones by dodecatungstocobaltate(III)—A comparative study

The kinetics of oxidation of cyclohexanone(chxn), 2‐butanone(but), and 1,3‐dihydroxy‐2‐propanone (dhp) have been investigated in aqueous acidic media. A first‐order dependence in complex is obtained at high acid and low oxidant concentration for these ketones. However, a zero‐order rate prevails at high oxidant and low acid concentration, and this rate has been shown to be the acid catalyzed enolization rate of the ketone. A general rate expression has been derived to explain these behaviors and plausible mechanism has been offered by assuming the enol as the reactive species.