Kinetics and Mechanism of Oxidation of D-Galactose by Chromium(VI) in Presence of 2,2 ´ -Bipyridine Catalyst in Aqueous Micellar Media

In aqueous H2SO4 media, the chromic acid oxidation of D-galactose in the presence and absence of 2,2 ´ - bipyridine (bpy) has been carried out under the conditions, (D-galactose)T >> (Cr(VI))T at different temperatures. The monomeric species of Cr (VI) has been found to be kinetically active in the absence of bpy whereas in the bpy-catalysed path, the Cr(VI) -bpy complex has been suggested as the active oxidant. In the bpy-catalysed path, Cr(VI)-bpy complex receives a nucleophilic attack by the substrate to form a ternary complex, which subsequently experiences a redox decomposition (through 2e transfer) at the rate-determining step leading to the product lactone and Cr(IV)-bpy complex. Then the Cr(IV)-bpy complex participates in faster steps in further oxidation of D- galactose and ultimately it is converted into Cr(III)-bpy complex. In the uncatalysed path, Cr(VI)-substrate ester experiences acid catalysed redox decomposition (2e-transfer) at the rate determining step. The uncatalysed path shows second order dependence on (H + ) while the bpy- catalysed path shows a first order dependence on (H + ). Both the uncatalysed path and bpy-catalysed path show the first order dependence on both (D-galactose)T and (Cr(VI))T. The bpy-catalysed path is first order in (bpy)T. These observations remain unaltered in the presence of externally added surfactants. Effect of the surfactants like N-cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC, a cationic surfactant) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, an anionic surfactant), on both the uncatalysed and bpy- catalysed paths has been studied. CPC inhibits both the uncatalysed and bpy-catalysed path, while SDS accelerates the reactions. In the catalysed path, cationic Cr(VI)-bpy complex is the reactive species which is attracted by the anionic micellar head groups of SDS but repelled by the cationic micellar head groups of CPC. The neutral substrate is accumulated in the Stern layer of both types of micelles. Thus the observed micellar effects have been explained by considering the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the reactants and surfactants in terms of the proposed mechanism.