Vs. Kolosnitsyn et al., ELECTROCHEMICAL SULFUR-DIOXIDE REDUCTION AT SMOOTH PLATINUM-ELECTRODES IN MIXED-SOLVENTS, Soviet electrochemistry, 28(11), 1992, pp. 1330-1334
The reduction of sulfur dioxide was studied at platinum electrodes in
sulfolane, acetonitrile, dimethylacetamide, and mixtures of these solv
ents with lithium bromide and lithium perchlorate as the base electrol
ytes. It was shown that the electron-donor and electron-acceptor prope
rties of the solvents influence, both the electrochemical step and sub
sequent reactions. The electrochemical step and the dimerization of th
e primary radical-anions become slower with increasing basicity of the
solvents. Anions having high donor power have an activating effect on
the electrochemical step. The high sensitivity of the electrochemical
system to the donor-acceptor properties of the medium can be used for
a deliberate control of cathodic sulfur dioxide reduction.