The kinetics of oxidation of chloramphenicol by chloramine-T has been investigated over the temperature range of 308-328 K. The reaction has been found to proceed quantitatively over a wide range of experimental conditions. Oxidation of antibiotic involves four electron changes and the product of oxidation has been identified. Oxidation of antibiotic exhibits first order kinetics w.r.t [CAT]. The rate of reaction was found to be independent of the concentration of the substrate. The fractional order dependence of rate on [H+] suggests complex formation b/w CAT and [H+]. The rate of reaction was found to be first order w.r.t. Ru(III) also. Thermodynamic parameters were evaluated. A suitable reaction scheme is proposed and appropriate rate law is derived to account for the observed kinetic data.
