Electrochemical oxidation of 2-mercaptobenzoxazole

281-287Electrochemical oxidation of 2-mercaptobenzoxazole has been studied in the phosphate buffers of pH 2.5-10.3 at solid electrodes. In the entire pH range a well-defined oxidation peak (Ia) was observed. The peak potential of this peak is linearly dependent on pH and the Ep-pH plot shows a break around pH 7.8, corresponding to the pka of the species. At pH ≥ 7.0 an additional oxidation peak (IIa) has been noticed. The electrode process is found to involve adsorption complications at PGE and the change in Ep with log v indicated radical radical coupling. The products of oxidation have been separated and characterized by using m.p., 1H NMR and mass spectra