Cyclic voltammetry irreversible reaction

Cyclic voltammetry provides a simple method for investigating the reversibility of an electrode reaction (table Bl.28.1). The reversibility of a reaction closely depends upon the rate of electron transfer being sufficiently high to maintain the surface concentrations close to those demanded by the electrode potential through the Nemst equation. Therefore, when the scan rate is increased, a reversible reaction may be transfomied to an irreversible one if the rate of electron transfer is slow. For a reversible reaction at a planar electrode, the peak current density, fp, is given by... 

Thus, cyclic or linear sweep voltammetry can be used to indicate whether a reaction occurs, at what potential and may indicate, for reversible processes, the number of electrons taking part overall. In addition, for an irreversible reaction, the kinetic parameters na and (i can be obtained. However, LSV and CV are dynamic techniques and cannot give any information about the kinetics of a typical static electrochemical reaction at a given potential. This is possible in chronoamperometry and chronocoulometry over short periods by applying the Butler Volmer equations, i.e. while the reaction is still under diffusion control. However, after a very short time such factors as thermal... 

The two cyclic voltammograms shown in Fig. 13 of [Scm(LBu2)] (b) and Scln(LMe-)] (a) show an important feature. Whereas the cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the former compound displays three reversible one-electron transfer waves, the latter shows only two irreversible oxidation peaks. Thus methyl groups in the ortho- and para-positions of the phenolates are not sufficient to effectively quench side reactions of the generated phenoxyls. In contrast, two tertiary butyl groups in the ortho- and para-positions stabilize the successively formed phenoxyls, Eq. (5)... 

FIGURE 2.5. EC reaction scheme in cyclic voltammetry. Mixed kinetic control by an electron transfer obeying the Butler-Volmer law (with a = 0.5) and an irreversible follow-up reaction, a Variation of the peak potential with the scan rate, b Variation of the peak width with scan rate. Dots represent examples of experimental data points obtained over a six-order-of-magnitude variation of the scan rate. 

In cyclic voltammetry, the current-potential curves are completely irreversible whatever the scan rate, since the electron transfer/bond-breaking reaction is itself totally irreversible. In most cases, dissociative electron transfers are followed by immediate reduction of R, as discussed in Section 2.6, giving rise to a two-electron stoichiometry. The rate-determining step remains the first dissociative electron transfer, which allows one to derive its kinetic characteristics from the cyclic voltammetric response, ignoring the second transfer step aside from the doubling of the current. 

Although cyclic voltammetry could fruitfully be applied to the kinetic analysis of these catalytic systems, it has mostly been investigated by means of rotating disk electrode voltammetry (Section 1.3.2). The simplest case is that of an irreversible catalytic reaction at a monolayer coating. The next section is devoted to the analysis of these systems by the two techniques. 

Macrocyclic N-donor ligands. Nickel complexes of macrocyclic ligands have been studied by cyclic voltammetry, and the irreversible or quasi-reversible couples Ni" L Ni L Ni L have been established. The structure of (124) has been reported and the co-ordination is essentially square-planar with a slight tetrahedral distortion. The reaction of [Ni(pn)3] with... 

Aliphatic ketones are oxidised in both acetonitrile [1,2] and trifluoracetic acid [3] at potentials less positive than required for the analogous hydrocarbons. The oxidation process is irreversible in both solvents and cyclic voltammetry peak potentials are around 2.7 V V5. see. Loss of an electron from the carbonyl oxygen lone pair is considered to be the first stage in the reaction. In acetonitrile, two competing processes then ensue. Short chain, a-branched ketones cleave the carbon-carbonyl bond to give the more stable carbocation, which is then quenched by reaction with... 

The electrode reaction of triamterene 15 was elucidated by means of DCP, Tast polarography, cyclic voltammetry, microcoulometry, controlled potential electrolysis, and spectroscopy (ultraviolet/visible (UVA is), NMR). Two steps of reduction independent of pH were observed two-electron reduction of 15 resulted in the formation of 17. The first reduction wave of 15 was assumed to be due to irreversible two-electron reduction forming unstable 16, which tautomerized to 17, and the second reduction wave was ascribed to two-electron reduction of 17 to the tetrahydro product, 18 (Scheme 2). 

On the contrary, the radical cation of anthracene is unstable. Under normal volt-ammetric conditions, the radical cation, AH +, formed at the potential of the first oxidation step, undergoes a series of reactions (chemical -> electrochemical -> chemical -> ) to form polymerized species. This occurs because the dimer, tri-mer, etc., formed from AH +, are easier to oxidize than AH. As a result, the first oxidation wave of anthracene is irreversible and its voltammetric peak current corresponds to that of a process of several electrons (Fig. 8.20(a)). However, if fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at an ultramicroelectrode (UME) is used, the effect of the follow-up reactions is removed and a reversible one-electron CV curve can be obtained (Fig. 8.20(b)) [64], By this method, the half-life of the radical cat-... 

Here, the electrode reaction is followed by a first-order irreversible chemical reaction in solution that consumes the primary product B and forms the final product C. The rate of this chemical reaction can be measured conveniently with cyclic voltammetry, double-potential-step chronoamperometry, reverse pulse voltammetry, etc. However, this is only true if the half-life of B is greater than or equal to the shortest attainable time scale of the experiment. 

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