Electrochemical behavior of mesoionic sydnone derivatives at wax-impregnated carbon paste electrode

The-N=N-moiety in the mesoionic 3-phenyl sydnone and its derivatives like tolyl sydnones and anisyl sydnones undergo two-electron irreversible electrochemical reduction in Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer at wax-impregnated carbon paste electrodes. Infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass-spectral data, used to characterize the reduced product, confirm the proposed mechanism. The pasting liquid at the surface of the electrode is found to decrease the electron-transfer rate and cause a higher overpotential compared to homogeneous electrodes. The influence of variation of pH on the peak current and peak potentials is studied in the acidic range. The cathodic peak shifts to more negative potentials with increase in pH, indicating the involvement of proton in the reduction process. This could be a new method of preparation of 2,4-dihydro-3-substituted 1,2,3-oxadiazole-5-one. The substituent effect and the effect of variation of scan rate, concentration, and temperature on peak currents and peak potentials is discussed. The cathodic shift in various organic co-solvents (methanol, acetonitrile, DMF, DMSO) using BRB as the supporting electrolyte is examined. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42; No. 7, pp. 862–868. The text was submitted by the authors in English.