Revista Técnica de la Facultad de Ingeniería (Oct 2010)
Synthetic aspects of the electrochemical oxidation of 4-methyl anisole
Abstract
4-methyl anisole is oxidized, in a first stage to produce a cation radical that undergoes deprotonation. Although a single oxidation peak is reported in literature corresponding to the loss of two electrons, we have been able to split it into a couple of peaks for one electron each. The cation radical is deprotonated to form a neutral radical which oxidizes to a cationic species. Two kind of reactions can occur, depending upon the reaction conditions: Whether a nucleophylic attack ofthe acetonitrile on the intermediate species, or polymerization of 4-methyl anisole.