Visual Isotope Effects: Demonstrating the Primary Kinetic Isotope Effect in the Chromium(VI) Oxidation of 2-Propanol-d^sub 8^ and Methanol-d^sub 4

The kinetic isotope effect in the Cr(VI) oxidation of commercially available 2-propanol-d... or methanol-d... is readily demonstrated using 4 mL reaction vials projected with a document camera. For the case of 2-propanol, the demonstration reveals how a rate-determining step can be identified with an isotopically labeled compound, providing students with an example of how mechanistic evidence is experimentally determined. The 2-propanol oxidation demonstration has been documented in a YouTube video, which also discusses the relevant chemistry. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)