Electrochemical oxidation of ferricyanide

Abstract

We report the electrochemical oxidation of ferricyanide, [FeIII(CN)6]3− and characterised the oxidation product by in-situ FTIR and XAS spectroelectrochemistry methods. Oxidation of [FeIII(CN)6]3− is proposed to proceed via a tentative Fe(IV) intermediate that undergoes reduction elimination to give cis-[FeIII(CN)4(CH3CN)2]1− as stable product in acetonitrile. Speciation of the oxidation product by DFT calculations is underpinned by good agreement to experimental data.