Oxidation of Acebutolol by Copper(III) Periodate Complex in Aqueous Alkaline Medium: A Kinetic and Mechanistic Approach

Illuminating the complex reactions of molecules in aqueous solution is one of the most important tasks of experimental studies of reaction dynamics. The oxidant diperiodatocuprate(III) (DPC) was used for the oxidation of acebutolol (ACBT) in aqueous alkaline medium, at an ionic strength of 0.30 mol·dm−3. The stoichiometry was found to be 1:2 ([ACBT]:[DPC]). The order of the reaction with respect to [DPC] was unity when [DPC] << [ACBT], while the orders with respect to [ACBT] and [OH−] were less than unity, whereas it was negative less than unity in [IO4-\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ {\text{IO}}_{ 4}^{ - } $$\end{document}] over the concentration range studied. The final products of oxidation were identified by GC–MS analysis. Based on the experimental observations, a plausible mechanism is proposed. The reaction constants involved in the different steps of the reaction mechanism were calculated. The activation parameters and the thermodynamic quantities were determined and discussed. Active species of diperiodatocuprate(III) was found to be monoperiodatocuprate(III), i.e. [Cu(H2IO6)(H2O)2]. An understanding of the mechanism allows the chemistry to be interpreted, understood and predicted.