Department of Chemistry, Wilson College (University of Mumbai), Mumbai-400 007, India E-mail : dvprabhu@rediffmail.com Manuscript received 17 April 2007, revised 23 August 2007, accepted 29 August 2007 A kinetic study of the controlled oxidation of perfumery alcohols, geraniol, 1-phenyl ethanol and benzyl alcohol by Chloramine T in alkaline medium and Chloramine B in acidic medium has been carried out in the temperature range 30 °C to 50 °C. The oxidation was monitored in the micellar phase using sodium dodecyl sulphate. The oxidation rate increases with alcohol concentration but decreases with the concentration of the oxidising reagent and varies linearly with the concentration of the metal ion catalysts used. The thermodynamic activation parameters have been calculated.