The Effect of Quaternary Ammonium Salts on Electro‐oxidation of Benzhydrol

Abstract

A study was made of the effect of tetra‐alkylammonium salts on the anodic oxidation of benzhydrol using potential pulse and galvanostatic pulse techniques. The results of the studies were in agreement with the interpretation that, in addition to solubilization effects, the primary cause of the increased yields is the formation of a film on the surface, which excludes side reactions with water. Potential pulse studies were in agreement with the previous conclusion that this film undergoes reorganization at a potential around −0.6V vs. SCE. The galvanostatic pulse studies showed that it requires a cathodic current pulse to destroy this film in a short time.

The role of supporting electrolyte during the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of aromatic compounds

“…The single cyclohexane product and the current efficiency trend in Fig. 2 can be explained by the presence of a quaternary ammonium ion film [25][26][27] on the Raney nickel surface. The presence of this film delays the onset of hydrogen gas evolution to higher overpotentials during direct electron transfer reductions by partially excluding water from the cathode surface [27,28].…”

The Electro‐oxidation of Some Insoluble Inorganic Sulfides, Selenides, and Tellurides in Cationic Surfactant‐Aqueous Sodium Hydroxide Systems

“…Recently, as part of a series of studies on the uses of cationic surfactants in the electro-oxidation of insoluble, difficulty oxidizable compounds (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8), it was reported that it was possible to electrolytically oxidize iron pyrite (9,10) and galena (11) powders in a cationic surfactant-aqueous sodium hydroxide system. Previously, electrolytic oxidation studies of these sulfide minerals to obtain answers to questions in the field of mineral processing have primarily utilized crystalline electrodes or powders mounted in graphite paste or epoxy cements (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26).…”

“…The previous studies (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) have shown that cationic surfactants affect these electro-oxidations in two ways. They solubilize the solids and form a hydrophobic film on the electrode, increasing the oxidation potential of water by 0.9V.…”