Kinetics and Mechanism of Ruthenium(III) Catalyzed Oxidation of Butanone and Uncatalyzed Oxidation of Cychlohexanone by Cerium(IV) in Acid Sulphate Medium

The kinetics of ruthenium(III) chloride catalyzed oxidation of butanone and uncatalyzed oxidation of cyclohexanone by cerium(IV) in sulphuric acid medium have been studied. The kinetic rate law(I) in case of butanone conforms to the proposed mechanism. $$-\frac{1}{2}\frac{d[Ce^{IV}]}{dt}=\frac{kK[Ru^{III}][butanone]}{1+K[butanone]}$$ (1). However, oxidation of cyclohexanone in absence of catalyst accounts for the rate eqn. (2). $$-\frac{1}{2}\frac{[Ce^{IV}]}{dt}=\frac{(k_1+k_1K^ (2) Kinetics and activation parameters have been evaluated conventionally. Kinetically preferred mode of reaction is via ketonic and not the enolic forms.