New Chemical Insights Using Weakly Supported Voltammetry: The Reductive Cleavage of ArylBr Bonds is Reversible

Abstract

Cyclic voltammetry carried out at a wide range of supporting electrolyte concentrations and compositions can elucidate additional kinetic and mechanistic details of the electrochemical reduction of aryl halides. The cleavage of the C-Br bond is reversible, driven by H abstraction and the second electron transfer. This is a new chemical insight, as the cleavage of such bonds has usually been regarded as irreversible.