A versatile spectroelectrochemical apparatus is introduced to study the cha
nges in IR spectra of organic and inorganic compounds upon oxidation or red
uction. The design is based on an attenuated total reflection device, which
permits the study of a wide spectral range of 16 700 (600 nm)-250 cm(-1),w
ith a small opaque region of 2250-1900 cm(-1). In addition, an IR data coll
ection protocol is introduced to deal with electrochemically nonreversible
background signals. This method is tested with ferrocene in acetonitrile; c
oncentrations as low as 1 mM produce results that agree with those in the l
iterature.