Voltammetric behavior of triethylamine trihydrofluoride and anisole in acetonitrile as a first approach of studies for electro-fluorination of some adducts

This work focuses on kinetic studies of anisole and triethylamine trihydrofluoride (fluorinating agent) on platinum electrode and acetonitrile as solvent, in order to get a better understanding of their anodic behavior. Results show that both compounds can be oxidized and some kinetic parameters are calculated: the diffusion coefficient within the working media, the anodic electronic transfer coefficient and the apparent intrinsic heterogeneous electronic transfer constant. An unusual variation of these parameters occurs within the chosen reaction conditions, particularly by varying the triethylamine trihydrofluoride concentration. Preliminary experiments for anodic fluorination of dimethoxy ethane (DME) and anisole were carried out and even if results show a possible electrofluorination for the DME (classically used as solvent), there is no fluorination of anisole when electrochemical microreactor was used.