Polarographic and voltammetric investigations in N-methylpyrrolidinone(2) and N-methylthiopyrrolidinone(2)

Polarographic and voltammetric methods were employed to study the influence of N-methylpyrrolidinone(2) (NMP) and N-methylthiopyrrolidinone(2) (NMTP) towards a series of cations. In NMP reversible electrode reactions were observed for Na⁺, K⁺, Tl⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ag⁺ and irreversible reductions for Ba²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺. 0.1 mol l^?1 tetraethylammoniumperchlorate solutions served as supporting electrolytes. Li⁺ was not electroactive in the supporting electrolyte mentioned, but yielded an irreversible cathodic wave in tetra-n-butylammonium perchlorate. In NMTP, Li⁺, Na⁺, Tl⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu⁺ and Ag⁺ gave reversible cathodic waves on the DME, while Mn²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ were reduced in an irreversible electrode process. Bisbiphenylchromium iodide serving as a reference system throughout this study showed reversible behaviour in both solvents. A comparison of E_1/2 for given ions in both solvents showed a shift of about 0.5 V to more positive values in the case of a typically hard cation such as Na⁺ whereas soft cations such as Ag⁺ and Cu⁺ shifted by more than 0.8 V to more negative values. The effects of these two solvents on the cations studied is discussed in terms of donor acceptor interactions between the cation and the solvent molecules with special respect to the changes caused by replacing the oxygen atom in NMP by a sulphur atom.