ELECTROANALYTICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE KINETICS OF REACTIONS BETWEEN ELECTROGENERATED SUPEROXIDE ION AND ORGANIC SUBSTRATES

The reaction between electrogenerated superoxide ion and aromatic halides has been studied in DMF solution by electroanalytical procedure. Evidence of nucleophilic reactions has been gained. Following the procedure of Nicholson and Shain, which employs cyclic voltammetry with different potential scan rates, the second-order rate constants could be evaluated. For p-fluoronitrobenzene it resulted to be 9.0±1.5M-1 s-1 while for p-chloronitrobenzene only a superior limit, 2 M-1 s-1, could be given. In addition a comparison among the kinetic constants relative to the reactions between O2{minus sign, dot below} and some organic substrates is reported. © 1979 Elsevier Sequoia S.A.