THE ELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOURS OF 4-(N, N-DIMETHYL AMINO) PHENYL PROPENAL AND DERIVATIVES

4-(N, N-Dimethylamino) Phenyl Propenal and Derivatives have been studied over a wide pH range in aqueous and non-aqueous media using platinum foil electrode. Two reductions in acidic medium and one reduction in basic medium take place involving two electrons per reduction. In the first the C=C double bond is reduced, in the second the aldehyde group. In acid media, two-electron process is split into two one-electron steps. In alkaline media, when the rate of protonation of the radical anion formed in the uptake of the first electron decreases with increasing pH, the two electron reduction peak of 4-( N, N-Dimethyl amino) Phenyl propenal and derivatives decreases to one-electron peak, followed at -1.5V by another one-electron peak which corresponds to the radical anion reduction. In non-aqueous media, only one peak is seen. On the basis of linear and cyclic sweep voltammetry, coulometry, IR, Mass, and H-1-NMR spectral studies and product identification a reaction mechanism are suggested to account for the reduction mechanism.