The name Fauvel points to the French fauve ('chestnut, reddish-yellow, or fawn'), another sense of fauve meaning the class of wild animals whose coats are at least partly brown, and the medieval belief that a fallow horse was a symbol of deceit and dishonesty.
An oxidizing agent is a reactant that removes electrons from other reactants during a redox reaction. The oxidizing agent typically takes these electrons for itself, thus gaining electrons and being reduced. An oxidizing agent is thus an electron acceptor.
The Ce 4+ ion, which is reduced acts as the oxidizing agent. So oxidation reactions need not involve oxygen. This redox reaction is actually the sum of two separate half-reactions (a reduction half-reaction and an oxidation half-reaction).he Ce 4+ ion, which is reduced acts as the oxidizing agent. So oxidation reactions need not involve oxygen. This redox reaction is actually the sum of two separate half-reactions (a reduction half-reaction and an oxidation half-reaction).