Voltammetric Generation and Kinetic Stability of Nitro Anion Radical from Nitrofurazone in Ionic Liquids

The nitrofurazone (NF) electrochemical reduction has been studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) in non-aqueous medium using three different ionic liquids (IL): BMImTf2N, BMImBF4 and BMMImTf2N, having a carbon fiber microelectrode as working electrode. In all of them, two reversible cathodic peaks were recorded for NF. Under higher frequency values, only one reversible cathodic peak was registered. The systems reversibility could also be observed by CV, since a reversible redox couple was registered for this reduction. The systems reversibility with product and reagent adsorptions on the electrode surface was confirmed and the electrons number involved in this reduction indicated the nitro-anion radical formation followed by its respective dianion. For the first reduction, the EC mechanism (an electrochemical step followed by a chemical one) was considered for the systems in aprotic medium, in which there was a probable second-order chemical reaction after the charge transfer process, being the kinetic constants calculated following the Olmstead and Nicholson model.