Lowering oxidation rate

[SaintJude]

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If you want to lower the oxidation rate of a certain process, why would removing oxygen be a good way to do that?

Is the oxidation rate of a process actually determined by the amount of oxygen available?

In fact, can oxidation rate even occur without the presence of oxygen?

 

[Buttafuoco]

Isn't this just LeChatelier's principle in action?
=
A + B ----> A+ + B- therefore removing the oxidizing or reducing agent will left shift the process.

 

[syoung]

oxygen is the primary oxidizing agent, like let's look at sugar + O2 -> H2O and CO2 in glycolysis.
The O helps oxidize the Carbon in sugar to CO2. O is reduced from O2 to H2O.

 

[SaintJude]

Why is helium gas not a good oxidizing agent? if it's because "it can't be reduced further" how can you look at molecule and know that's the case?

 

[Buttafuoco]

Helium is not a good reactant period- it's a noble gas. It's got teh stable doublet analogous to a stable S+ P octet in the other ones, so it would take a huge amount of energy to get it to accept or give up an electron and destroy that low energy state.

 

[syoung]

oxidizing agents are very electronegative (O2, F2, Cl2, Br2) or with high oxidation states H2O2, MnO4-, CrO3, Cr2O7 (2-), and OsO4
Helium is not electronegative because it's a noble gas and it has an oxidation state of 0