Polarographic Detection of Arenediazonium Ions. Optimization of the Method and Application for Investigating Dediazoniation Mechanisms

The use of differential pulse polarography (DPP) at the dropping mercury electrode (DME) to detect and to investigate the mechanisms for decomposition of arenediazonium ions, ArN2+, under different experimental conditions is discussed. The effect of a number of experimental and instrumental parameters on the polarographic peaks of a model arenediazonium ion was explored and representative applications to investigate their reaction mechanisms are given. The composite data shows that DPP provides an alternative, relatively cheap, technique to monitor ArN2+ decomposition in, for example, opaque systems where, for obvious reasons, spectroscopic detection does not work; meanwhile in homogeneous systems, DPP complements the results obtained by employing spectroscopic or chromatographic techniques. In addition, a variety of valuable mechanistic information such as detection of transient intermediates or estimation of the binding constants of aryl radicals with macromolecular systems, that otherwise cannot be easily obtained, is readily available by using DPP.