* Mercury(I) chloride disproportionates upon UV-irradiation:
* Phosphorous acid disproportionates upon heating to 200°C to give phosphoric acid and phosphine:
* Desymmetrizing reactions are sometimes referred to as disproportionation, as illustrated by the thermal degradation of bicarbonate:
:: The oxidation numbers remain constant in this acid-base reaction.
* Another variant on disproportionation is radical disproportionation, in which two radicals form an alkene and an alkane.
* Disproportionation of sulfur intermediates by microorganisms are widely observed in sediments.
* Chlorine gas reacts with dilute sodium hydroxide to form sodium chloride, sodium chlorate and water. The ionic equation for this reaction is as follows:
:: The chlorine reactant is in oxidation state 0. In the products, the chlorine in the Cl ion has an oxidation number of −1, having been reduced, whereas the oxidation number of the chlorine in the ClO ion is +5, indicating that it has been oxidized.
* Decomposition of numerous interhalogen compounds involve disproportionation. Bromine fluoride undergoes disproportionation reaction to form bromine trifluoride and bromine in non-aqueous media:
* The dismutation of superoxide free radical to hydrogen peroxide and oxygen, catalysed in living systems by the enzyme superoxide dismutase:
:: The oxidation state of oxygen is −1/2 in the superoxide free radical anion, −1 in hydrogen peroxide and 0 in dioxygen.
* In the Cannizzaro reaction, an aldehyde is converted into an alcohol and a carboxylic acid. In the related Tishchenko reaction, the organic redox reaction product is the corresponding ester. In the Kornblum–DeLaMare rearrangement, a peroxide is converted to a ketone and an alcohol.
* The disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen catalysed by either potassium iodide or the enzyme catalase:
* In the Boudouard reaction, carbon monoxide disproportionates to carbon and carbon dioxide. The reaction is for example used in the HiPco method for producing carbon nanotubes, high-pressure carbon monoxide disproportionates when catalysed on the surface of an iron particle:
* Nitrogen has oxidation state +4 in nitrogen dioxide, but when this compound reacts with water, it forms both nitric acid and nitrous acid, where nitrogen has oxidation states +5 and +3 respectively:
* Dithionite undergoes acid hydrolysis to thiosulfate and bisulfite:
* Dithionite also undergoes alkaline hydrolysis to sulfite and sulfide:
* Dithionate is prepared on a larger scale by oxidizing a cooled aqueous solution of sulfur dioxide with manganese dioxide: