Kinetics and products of the catalytic oxidation of acetamidotoluenes with ozone in acetic acid

Abstract

The kinetics of acetamidotoluene oxidation in glacial acetic acid in the presence of cobalt acetate is reported. At 95°C and atmospheric pressure, acetamidotoluenes are oxidized by molecular oxygen very slowly: oxidation is complete in 10–12 h, and the major reaction products are acetamidobenzoic acids (27–36% yield). The introduction of ozone into the reactive gas increases the reaction rate by one order of magnitude. The main role of ozone is to generate the active form of the catalyst.