Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of glycine, alanine, and threonine by fluoride coordinated bismuth(V) in aqueous HClO 4 –HF medium

The kinetics of oxidation of amino acids viz. glycine, alanine, and threonine with bismuth(V) in HClO 4 –HF medium have been studied. The kinetics of the oxidation of all these amino acids exhibit similar rate laws. The second‐order rate constants were calculated to be 2.04 × 10 −2 dm 3 mol −1 and 2.72 × 10 −2 dm 3 mol −1 s −1 for glycine and alanine, respectively, at 35°C and 5.9 × 10 −2 dm 3 mol −1 s −1 for threonine at 25°C. All the possible reactive species of both bismuth(V) and amino acids have been discussed and a most probable kinetic model in each reaction has been envisaged. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.