Electrochemical determination of rate constants and product yields for the spontaneous dediazoniation ofp-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate in acidic aqueous solution

We have examined the kinetics and mechanisms of the dediazoniation of p-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate in acidic aqueous solutions by employing differential pulse polarography (DPP) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) on a glassy carbon electrode combined with the use of a coupling reaction to quench unreacted p-nitrobenzenediazonium ion. These electrochemical techniques show an effective sensitivity and selectivity for detecting arenediazonium ions and arenedediazoniation products under the appropriate experimental conditions (pH, solvent, electrolyte), which allows simultaneous monitoring of the rates of arenediazonium ion loss and product formation and determination of product yields.