electrochemistry

To elucidate the electronic structure as well as to fully characterize the novel compounds we routinely measure the redox properties of the molecules in solution. In a simple voltammetric experiment we gain important information about accessible oxidation states of the complexes. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is usually performed under a dinitrogen atmosphere (binding posts at the glove-box allow electrochemical experiments in the glove box) in dry solvents like acetonitrile or THF containing a pre-dried and recrystallized electrolyte such as tetra-n-butyl ammoniumperchlorate (TBAClO4) or tetra-n-butylammoniumhexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6). A one-cell compartment is used for the CV measurements. This compartment is set up with a gold, platinum, or glassy carbon disk electrode (1.6 mm diameter, Bioanalytical Systems(BAS)), which are usually employed as working electrodes. A platinum or silver wire serve as counter electrodes. The electrochemical response is collected with the assistance of a CV-50W Voltammetric Analyzer (BAS). The ferrocenium/ferrocene couple is used as the internal standard (0V). Scan rates commonly vary between 25 - 1600 mVs-1

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