Fundamental Principles of Organic Electrochemistry: Fundamental Aspects of Electrochemistry Dealing with Organic Molecules - Fundamentals and Applications of Organic Electrochemistry - page 32

(a) absence and (b) presence of

4-methoxybenzyl alcohol

2.8.4 Voltammetry for Selection of
Electrode Material

As mentioned in section 2.1, the upper and
lower limits of the potential window are
determined by the working electrode material,
and hence the selection of a working electrode
material is critical not only to experimental
success for voltammetry but also smooth
progress of the desired preparative scale
electrolysis.

Although the electrochemical oxidation of furan
in methanol solution usually gives the
corresponding methoxylated product, as shown
in Eq. 2.14 , the desired oxidation proceeds
inefficiently at the Pt electrode. On the other
hand, an excellent yield of product can be
obtained by using a glassy carbon (GC) working
electrode. The influence of the working
electrode material on the efficiency of the
electrochemical reaction can also be confirmed
by the CV study [15].

(2.14)