Kinetic and Thermodynamic Aspects of Oxidation of 4-Hydroxy Phenyl acetic acid by N-Bromosuccinimide in Aqueous Medium

Abstract

The kinetics of oxidation of 4-Hydroxy phenyl acetic acid by n-bromosuccinimide in aqueous medium has been studied at 303K. The reaction stoichiometry was determined and oxidation products were identified. A first order dependence on oxidant, fractional order on substrate and inverse fractional order on [H⁺] of rate was observed.  A slight negative effect by dielectric constant was observed. Involvement of nonionic species in rate determining step was indicated by unchanged rate with ionic strength. Thermodynamic parameters were computed by performing the kinetic runs at different temperature and a mechanism consistent with observed parameters is proposed and rate law is derived.