[Fry]

Well ive read a bit on bleach being used as an oxidizing agent and I am wondering how well this works..

Sounds to me like just adding a 5% solution of sodium hypochlorite to 5% solution of acetic acid will produce the hypochlorous acid and oxidation can be carried out from there. Is this reasonable?

Also, Ive seen various mechanism proposals...

Which one is correct? Does it matter? I like the second one, personally.

[AhmedEzatAlzawalaty]

wouldnt it produce hydroperoxide?

[mir]

Also, Ive seen various mechanism proposals...
Which one is correct? Does it matter? I like the second one, personally.

There is never a "correct" mechanism. We can never prove a model, only come up with suggestions.  What make one model (mechanism) "more correct" upon others is how much support they got among chemists. And that depends on how easy the model is to be understood and how accurate it proves to be (usefulness).

So what you should ask is what mechanism is accepted to be more correct. And the way you find that out, is by looking up newer litterature (from the last 5-10 years). Try a search on JACS or ISI Web of knowledge.

If you dont have time, use occams razor. The simplest model, is often the more correct one.

[movies]

If you dont have time, use occams razor. The simplest model, is often the more correct one.

I really disagree with applying Occam's razor to mechanisms.  When we draw any "correct" mechanism, we are probably oversimplifying anyway, so it's really bad to simplify it more.  Also, there are plenty of examples where the "simplest" mechanism has been proven to be incorrect.

You are, of course, correct in saying that you can never prove a mechanism.  You can disprove other mechanisms based on observations of the system.  So the best you can get is a proposed mechanism which is consistent with all of the available data.