Present work reports influence of micellar media (CTAB) upon the oxidative degradation of fluoroquinolone family drug norfloxacin (NOR). The reaction has been studied at constant temperature (308 K). The stoichiometry of the reaction was found to be 1:4 and oxidation products were identified by LC-MS technique and other spectral studies. The reaction exhibited first-order-dependence on chloramine-T [CAT] and fractional-order dependence on [NOR]. The rate constant was independent of cationic micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide [CTAB] at lower concentrations followed by a rapid increase in rate constant to a maximum and further gradual decrease in rate constant at higher CTAB was observed. In the presence of CTAB, both the oxidant and substrate are distributed between the aqueous and the micellar pseudo phases and then react to give the product. Compensation between water structure destruction and substrate-micelle interaction plays an important role in the presence of CTAB. The rate constants were obtained and the applicability of Piszkiewicz's, Raghvan-Srinivasan's and pseudo phase models allowed us to obtain the reactivity constants in the aqueous pseudo phase and in the micellar pseudo phase (k(2)(w) and k(2)(m)) and the binding constants of the reactants to the micellar phase (K-1, K-2). The effects of inorganic salts i.e. [SO42-], [HSO4-], [Cl-] and [Br-] on reaction rate have also been studied. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.