Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of some α-hydroxy acids by tetrachloroaurate(III) in acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer medium

The kinetics of oxidation of some neutralized α-hydroxy compounds such as glycolic (GA), lactic (LA), α-hydroxyisobutyric(IB), mandelic (MA), atrolactic (AL), and benzilic (BA) acids by tetrachloroaurate(III) have been studied. The substrates are oxidized to give formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, and benzophenone for the respective reactions. The rate of the reaction increases with increasing [substrate] and pH but decreases with increase in [Cl⁻¹]. Temperature influence is quite marked in all these reactions. A mechanism involving the formation of an unstable complex, which decomposes to give the respective reaction products, is proposed. The reactivity of the α-hydroxy acids towards gold(III) are as follows: AL > MA > BA > IB > LA > GA. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 31: 873–882, 1999