Oscillations in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction with sorbitol in the presence of bromine

The reaction of sorbitol with bromate in strongly acidic solution was found to induce temporal oscillations in the presence of large amounts of elementary bromine, both with cerium and manganese ions as catalysts. A systematic study of oscillations in this variant of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was carried out in a broad concentration range of the reagents. For the explanation of oscillations, a mechanism is proposed which is based on the well-known bromate chemistry combined with an organic radical control which takes into account the special reactions of sugars and sugar alcohols in the presence of bromine.