In the analytical field, previous applications of chemical oscillation focused on quantitative analysis. We report in this paper a novel qualitative method electrochemically distinguishing two positional isomers by utilizing their perturbation effects on a catalyzed Briggs-Rauscher (BR) oscillation. The catalyst in the system is a macrocyclic nickel (II) complex NiL(ClO4)(2), where the ligand L in the complex is 5,7,7,12,14, 14-hexemethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene. The experimental results indicated that addition of cyclohexane-1,3-dione (1,3-CHD) or 1,4-cyclohexanedione (1,4-CHD) could affect the profiles of potentiometric oscillations, but their changes in the profiles are greatly different. When 1,3-CHD was injected into the oscillating system, there was an initial spiking of the oscillations, accompanying by quenching of oscillations before the regeneration of oscillations. While 1,4-CHD was injected into the dynamic mixture, the oscillatory system responded to the perturbation with only slight decrease followed by a sharp increase in the potential, before it resumed to its normal oscillation state. The perturbation of 1,3-CHD involves inhibition time, whereas the perturbation of 1,4-CHD does not. Hence these two positional isomers could be distinguished by using their different perturbation effects on a BR dynamic system in the range of 9.0 x 10(-4) to 8.0 x 10(-3) M. Our assumption is that, perturbation of 1,3-CHD on the oscillating system involves a radical oxidization process to produce carboxylic acid, whereas perturbation of 1,4-CHD assumes idiodation and elimination steps to form 1,4-benzoquinone. Such different perturbation mechanisms are responsible for the difference in potentiometric oscillation profiles change. This hypothesis was confirmed by products analysis by FTIR and UV spectra. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.