Electrochemical oxidation behavior of hydroxypivalaldehyde in the ionic liquids

The similar electrochemical oxidation behaviors of hydroxypivalaldehyde in ionic liquids (ILs) medium, C4MIMPF6, C4MIMBF4 and C8MIMPF6, are investigated using classic electrochemical methods, respectively. Only the product, hydroxypivalic acid is detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It can be conferred that the electrochemical oxidation of hydroxypivalaldehyde consists of two successive one-electron irreversible reactions at glass carbon (GC) electrode and the possible reaction mechanism in the ILs is proposed firstly. The diffusion coefficients of hydroxypivalaldehyde are obtained according to the electrochemical characteristics of hydroxypivalaldehyde in C4MIMPF6, C4MIMBF4 and C8MIMPF6.