Tetrazolium salts electrochemical reduction

Tetrazolium iodide, l,3-dialkyl-5-phenyl-synthesis, 5, 815 Tetrazolium salts electrochemical reduction, 5, 73 hydrogen exchange, 5, 70 Tetrazolium salts, 2,3-diphenyl-5-oxide... 

Electrochemical methods have been used extensively to elucidate the mechanism of reduction of tetrazolium salts. In aprotic media, the first step is a reversible one-electron reduction to the radical 154 as confirmed by ESR spectroscopy.256,266 As shown in Scheme 26, this radical can then disproportionate to the tetrazolium salt and the formazan anion (166) or take up another electron to the formazan dianion (167). The formation of the dianion through a direct reduction or through the intermediate tetrazolyl anion (168) has also been proposed.272-28 1,294 In aqueous solutions, where protonation/deprotonation equilibria contribute to the complexity of the reduction process, the reduction potentials are pH dependent and a one-electron wave is seldom observed. 

A few electrochemical reductions of formazans to hydrazidine have been reported.370,372 Ho wever, as discussed in Section 7.4.2.6, electrochemical techniques have been widely used to study the redox chemistry of tetrazolium salts and formazans. Opinions about the reversibility of the electron transfer step, the number of electrons involved, and the identity of the rate-determining step differ widely.369- 371,656 The electrochemical oxidation of some novel formazans, e.g., 215 produces the dicationic species 216 (Eq. 28). The mechanism is not clearly understood.372,373... 

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