Electrochemical synthesis of cadmium chelates at sacrificial anode

Abstract

The synthesis of cadmium chelates through an electrochemical technique, involving the anodic oxidation of a sacrificial metallic electrode (cadmium) within an H-type cell, is reported. This process utilizes acetonitrile as a solvent with organic compounds containing abstractable hydrogen RH2 (nitroethane, 2-nitropropane, malononitrile and diethylmalonate) serving as the reactants. This study encompasses the coordination complexes of cadmium with ligands, 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen). The electrochemically synthesized products have been confirmed through various physical measurements, elemental analyses and infrared spectral studies. This one-step electrochemical technique is highly effective in obtaining metal complexes and their coordination complexes. The determination of current efficiency for these synthesized complexes serves to elucidate the underlying reaction mechanism.