Department of Chemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad-500 007 Manuscript received 26 May 1977, revised 3 March 1979, accepted 30 December 1979 Kinetics of oxidation of α-amino acids viz. glycine, alanine, phenylalanine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid by periodate has been studied in aqueous medium with a view to find out the behaviour of the periodate, which is a specific oxidant for 1,2-glycols The order in [amino acid] and [periodate] were found to be one each and the overall reaction followed second order kinetics. The rates decreased with increase in Mil Addition of salts like KCI, NaNO3 and NaCIO4 had negligible effect on the rates. The products of oxidation were identified as the corresponding aldehydes apart from CO2 and NH3. A mechanism similar to that observed in the oxidation of 1,2-glycols is proposed to explain the results. Activation parameters are also presented and discussed.