The chemical stability to oxidation of a set of compounds built up fro
m acceptor and donor subunits linked by a methylene or a hydroxymethyl
ene group was studied. Whereas 1-butyl-3-[1,2,4-triazol-5(3)-ylmethyl]
pyridinium salts 2d,e showed high stability to oxidation, -butyl-4-[im
idazol-4(5)-ylhidroxymethyl]pyridinium salt 14f was oxidised spontaneo
usly to the corresponding carbonyl compound, indicating the capability
of the oxidation phenomenon to be controlled by the nature of the bui
lding blocks. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd