Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of alanine, phenylalanine and valine by N-bromosuccinimide in alkaline medium

Department of Chemistry, H. B. Technological Institute, Kanpur-208 002, India

E-mail: upadhyay-s-k@redif.com Fax : 91-0512-545312

Manuscript received 13 December 2002, revised 27 March 2002. accepted 13 August 2002

The kinetics of oxidation of amino acids (AA), viz. alanine, phenylalanine and valine by N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) have been studied in alkaline medium. The reaction is first order in NBS. The order of reaction in amino acid and alkali decreases from unity to zero at higher [AA] and [OH^-] respectively. The rate is accelerated in presence of succinimide (product of NBS) at lower [succinimide]_o, while that becomes independent to succinimide at higher [succinimide]_o. A mechanism consistent with kinetic data has been proposed.