Electrode Processes of 1,2,4-benzenetriol in Different non-aqueous Solvents

The electrooxidation of 1,2,4-benzenetriol was studied in different non-aqueous solvents. The results showed that the studied substance can be oxidized in several ways on the electrode surface due to the favourable positions of hydroxyl groups (similarly to hydroquinone, resorcinol and catechol). In most cases one anodic peak appeared involving all possible electrode processes. The concentration dependence of voltammetric peak currents using platinum macroelectrode showed nonlinearity attributable to the 1,3-oxidation similarly to resorcinol leading to partial deactivation. Appearance of more peaks indicated the weak deactivation at higher concentrations in acetonitrile and nitrobenzene. At higher concentration the microelectrode became deactivated as in the successive scans the currents declined continuously reinforcing the existence of resorcinol pathway.