Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of phenoxyacetic acids by chromic acid was written by Gurumurthy, R.;Sathiyanarayanan, K.;Anandabaskaran, T.;Karunakaran, K.. And the article was included in Asian Journal of Chemistry in 1994.Safety of 2-(4-Methoxyphenoxy)acetic acid This article mentions the following:
The kinetics of oxidation of phenoxyacetic acid and several para- and meta-substituted phenoxyacetic acids by chromic acid in the presence of perchloric acid have been studied in 50% (volume/volume) aqueous acetic acid. The oxidation is fractional order (0.74) with respect to substrate. Increasing the concentration of perchloric acid increases the rate of oxidation with an order of 0.62. Added Mn2+ decreases the rate considerably, suggesting a two-electron transfer at the rate-limiting step. In general, electron-releasing substituents accelerate the rate while electron-attracting groups retard the rate. A good Hammett correlation is obtained. In the experiment, the researchers used many compounds, for example, 2-(4-Methoxyphenoxy)acetic acid (cas: 1877-75-4Safety of 2-(4-Methoxyphenoxy)acetic acid).
2-(4-Methoxyphenoxy)acetic acid (cas: 1877-75-4) belongs to ethers. Ether is less polar than esters, alcohols or amines because of the oxygen atom that is unable to participate in hydrogen bonding due to the presence of bulky alkyl groups on both sides of the oxygen atom. But ether is more polar than alkenes. Autoxidation is the spontaneous oxidation of a compound in air. In the presence of oxygen, ethers slowly autoxidize to form hydroperoxides and dialkyl peroxides. If concentrated or heated, these peroxides may explode. To prevent such explosions, ethers should be obtained in small quantities, kept in tightly sealed containers, and used promptly.Safety of 2-(4-Methoxyphenoxy)acetic acid
Referemce:
Ether – Wikipedia,
Ether | (C2H5)2O – PubChem