Quinolinium Dichromate Oxidation of Diols: A Kinetic Study

Quinolinium dichromate (QDC) in water oxidizes vicinal and nonvicinal diols to the corresponding alpha-hydroxy carbonyl compound. The rate is proportional to the concentrations of diol, oxidant and hydrogen ions, and the reactions proceed almost twice as fast in D(2)O than in H(2)O. These data can be correlated with a mechanistic pathway involving the intermediate formation of a chromate ester, which undergoes decomposition to give the product.