Solvent-supporting electrolyte system

The electrosynthesized (0EP)Ge(CgHs)C10, was characterized in situ by thin-layer spectroelectrochemistry. The final product of electrosynthesis was spectrally compared with the same compounds which were synthesized using chemical and photochemical methods(35). (0EP)Ge(C6H5)Ci and (0EP)Ge(CsHs)0H were also electrochemically generated by the use of specific solvent/supporting electrolyte systems(35). 

The method of complete electrolysis is also important in elucidating the mechanism of an electrode reaction. Usually, the substance under study is completely electrolyzed at a controlled potential and the products are identified and determined by appropriate methods, such as gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and capillary electrophoresis. In the GC method, the products are often identified and determined by the standard addition method. If the standard addition method is not applicable, however, other identification/determination techniques such as GC-MS should be used. The HPLC method is convenient when the product is thermally unstable or difficult to vaporize. HPLC instruments equipped with a high-sensitivity UV detector are the most popular, but a more sophisticated system like LC-MS may also be employed. In some cases, the products are separated from the solvent-supporting electrolyte system by such processes as vaporization, extraction and precipitation. If the products need to be collected separately, a preparative chromatographic method is use-... 

Comprehensive reviews describing the preparation, purification, and physical and electrochemical properties of these melts have been published [17-20]. The most popular systems are mixtures of A1C13 with either l-(l-butyl)pyridinium chloride (BupyCl) or 1 -methyl-3-ethylimidazolium chloride (MeEtimCl). These systems are very versatile solvents for electrochemistry because they are stable over a wide temperature range. In many ways they can be considered to be a link between conventional nonaqueous solvent/supporting electrolyte systems and conventional high-temperature molten salts. 

Table 1. Accessible potential ranges of non-aqueous solvent-supporting electrolyte systems on platinum (in V ps. SCE)...

ROLE OF THE SOLVENT-SUPPORTING ELECTROLYTE SYSTEM IN ELECTROCHEMISTRY... 

There are several ways in which the solvent-supporting electrolyte system can influence mass transfer, the electrode reaction (electron transfer), and the chemical reactions that are coupled to the electron transfer. The diffusion of an electroactive species will be affected not only by the viscosity of the medium but also by the strength of the solute-solvent interactions that determine the size of the solvation sphere. The solvent also plays a crucial role in proton mobility water and other protic solvents produce a much higher proton mobility because of fast solvent proton exchange, a phenomenon that does not exist in aprotic organic solvents. 

In both polarographic and preparative electrochemistry in aptotic solvents the custom is to use tetraalkylammonium salts as supporting electrolytes. In such solvent-supporting electrolyte systems electrochemical reductions at a mercury cathode can be performed at —2.5 to —2.9 V versus SCE. The reduction potential ultimately is limited by the reduction of the quaternary ammonium cation to form an amalgam, (/ 4N )Hg , n = 12-13. The tetra-n-butyl salts are more difficult to reduce than are the tetraethylammonium salts and are preferred when the maximum cathodic range is needed. On the anodic side the oxidation of mercury occurs at about +0.4 V versus SCE in a supporting electrolyte that does not complex or form a precipitate with the Hg(I) or Hg(II) ions that are formed. 

Studies have also been conducted on electrode processes where homogeneous chemical reactions are coupled to heterogeneous electron transfer(s). In this example, the reductive dehalogenations of 3- and 4-bromobenzophenone and of o-bromonitrobenzene (denoted as ArBr) dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide solution were studied (Compton et al., 1996b). The one-electron reductions of these compounds result in the formation of the corresponding chemically reactive radical anions as shown in (96), where HS denotes the solvent/supporting electrolyte system. 

Quantitative study of ECL systems is a rather difficult task. The combined requirements of reductant and oxidant stability with high fluorescence efficiency of the parent molecule drastically limit the types of compounds suitable for use in the study of the ECL phenomenon. To these, we must add solubility and chemical stability in the presence of electrodes, electrolyte, and solvent. Photochemical stability is an additional requirement. Chemical complications following the initial electron transfer to and from the electrode are still a problem. The chemistry occurring in solution after electrolysis must therefore be examined carefully. Especially, the solvent-supporting electrolyte system should be chosen to prevent lack of reactivity with the electrogenerated species. All of the above complications may lead to misinterpretation of the essentially simple processes of electron transfer excitation. However, in some cases most of these interferences may be removed by... 

Thus the larger the concentration of dissociated ions, the smaller the ohmic drop. This in turn depends on the nature and affinity of the solvent/supporting electrolyte system, as discussed earlier and in Chapter 5. 

In contrast to the direct process, an indirect process is one in which a foreign molecule or ion serves to shuttle electrons between the electrode and the substrate molecules. An indirect oxidation process may also involve the transfer of a hydrogen atom from a suitable substrate to a radical generated electrochemically. Indirect processes are typically observed for saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons and substrates that are more difficult to oxidize than the solvent-supporting electrolyte system. 

SMDE. In most experiments with an SMDE, the residual current is almost entirely of faradaic origin and is often controlled by the purity of the solvent-supporting electrolyte system (Section 7.3.2). 

ECL experiments focused on radical ion annihilation are carried out in fairly conventional electrochemical apparatus, but procedures must be modified to allow the electrogeneration of two reactants, rather than one, as is more commonly true. In addition, one must pay scrupulous attention to the purity of the solvent/supporting electrolyte system. Water and oxygen are particularly harmful to these experiments. Thus, apparatus is constructed to allow transfer of solvent and degassing on a high-vacuum line or in an inert-atmosphere box. Other constraints may be imposed by optical equipment used to monitor the light. 

You should now be able to select a suitable solvent/supporting electrolyte system for your purpose. The limitations on choice are set by the solubility of the analyte and of the supporting electrolyte, the requirement for a low electrical resistance, and the necessity to have a voltage window available for the required analyte reaction. This latter limitation usually amounts to ensuring that an adequate cathodic voltage limit is available. 

Select a suitable solvent/supporting electrolyte system for the following applications using the dc polarography technique. 

Table 13.3 lists the commonly used solvent-supporting electrolyte systems for ECL study. 13.4.2 Cell design and electrodes... 

ECL solvent-supporting electrolytes systems (modified from reference (149))... 

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