The initial rate of oxidation of octan-2-ol and other secondary alcohols to their ketones with NaBrO 3 , mediated by RuO 4 in an aqueous-CCl 4 biphasic system, is greater with ultrasonic irradiation than by stirring alone. Under ultrasonic irradiation the initial rate of oxidation of octan-2-ol increases with increasing % duty cycle, [RuO 4 ] and [NaBrO 3 ]. The kinetics of alcohol oxidation appear to be closely linked with the oxidative dissolution of RuO 2 to RuO 4 by NaBrO 3 . The observed enhancement in rate with ultrasonic irradiation appear to be association, at least in part, with the increase in interfacial surface area via the formation of an emulsion of aqueous microdroplets containing NaBrO 3 in the CCl 4 layer containing the non-water-soluble secondary alcohol.