Oxidative self-coupling of aromatic compounds in ionic liquids

Electrochemical oxidation of mononuclear (anisole, mesitylene) and fused polynuclear (naphthalene, anthracene) aromatic compounds was performed in various ionic liquids (ILs) to provide the products of anodic dimerization. Under similar conditions, the process with 1,2-dimethoxybenzene resulted in polyveratrole, stable blue-colored doped polymer of amorphous or fibrillar morphology depending on the IL used as the electrolytic media. The electrosyntheses of anodic self-coupling products in ILs were realized in an undivided cell when the paired reaction at the auxiliary electrode was the reduction of protons eliminated in the target anodic process.