A journey into the electrochemistry of vanadium compounds

Vanadium is an element with a fascinating history, a widespread diffusion in bacteria and eukaryan organisms, and rich coordination chemistry. The properties of vanadium compounds attracted the interest of researchers in different fields, such as biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, and catalysis, leading to several reviews. However, although the rich and varied chemistry of vanadium was acknowledged to be due to the variety of easily accessible oxidation states, no review was devoted – to the best of our knowledge – to electrochemical properties of vanadium compounds. The present review aims at filling this lacuna, presenting a survey of electrochemical data related to vanadium compounds, starting from the eighties of the last century until mid 2014. The data are organized in tables, with experimental information necessary for comparisons, according to oxidation states of vanadium, beginning with the largest set, that is that of vanadium(IV) compounds and, within this set, on the basis of ligand coordinating atoms. The original ligands abbreviations were kept, when possible, or adapted, according to recent IUPAC recommendations. We hope to offer the reader a comprehensive – if not complete – overview of electrochemistry of vanadium compounds and to make relatively easy to retrieve the desired information. What is evident is the variety and versatility of vanadium compounds also in redox processes.