Unlike manganese(III) acetate, which is commercially available and greatly used1as an oxidant with organic compounds, cobalt(III) acetate is not so readily available and has been less used as a routine laboratory oxidant. Cobalt(III) acetate is the more powerful oxidant and a comparative analysis2of their properties suggests that it has a potential as a laboratory reagent in addition to the established role in industrial processes involving homogeneous catalysis. The existing methods for preparation of cobalt(III) acetate either require the use of ozone3, peroxides4or peracids5or by use of oxygen as oxidant lead to solutions in which conversion of cobalt(II) acetate to cobalt(III) acetate is modest4,6.