The reaction mechanism of the acid‐catalysed autoxidation of xanthene to xanthylium ion

Abstract

AbstractThis paper describes an investigation into the kinetics of the autoxidation of xanthene to xanthylium ion and hydrogen peroxide in a perchloric acid/acetic acid mixture at 20°. Apart from acid catalysis, the reaction also shows the characteristics of a free‐radical chain autoxidation. In the mechanism devised to account for the results the key feature is hydrogen abstraction by a protonated peroxy radical with simultaneous production of the stable xanthylium ion: \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}\[{\rm RH + RO}_{\rm 2}{\rm H}\cdot^\oplus\to{\rm R}^\oplus+{\rm H}_{\rm 2}{\rm O}_{\rm 2}+{\rm R}\]\end{document}