Electrocatalytic oxidation of D-sorbitol on platinum in acid medium: Analysis of the reaction products

The electrocatalytic oxidation of D-sorbitol has been studied on polycrystalline platinum in 0.1 M HClO4. Prolonged electrolyses were carried out using a three potential plateau program with different values of the oxidation potentials. Chromatographic analyses showed that D-sorbitol was transformed into gluconic acid via the formation of glucose. Glucuronic acid and some degradation side products were also detected. When increasing the applied potential, the degradation of the initial molecule skeleton became more and more important. Moreover, a reaction mechanism for the electrooxidation of D-sorbitol was proposed and it was demonstrated that the consumption of D-sorbitol followed a first-order reaction law. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.