Oxygen reduction by decamethylferrocene at liquid/liquid interfaces catalyzed by dodecylaniline

1572-6657/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier B.V. A doi:10.1016/j.jelechem.2009.11.029 * Corresponding author. Fax: +41 21 6933667. E-mail address: [email protected] (H.H. Girau 1 Present address: Institute of Microanalytical Syste Zhejiang University, 310058 Hangzhou, China. Molecular oxygen (O2) reduction by decamethylferrocene (DMFc) was investigated at a polarized water/ 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface. Electrochemical results point to a mechanism similar to the EC type reaction at the conventional electrode/solution interface, in which an assisted proton transfer (APT) by DMFc across the water/DCE interface via the formation of DMFcH corresponds to the electrochemical step and O2 reduction to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) represents the chemical step. The proton transfer step can also be driven using lipophilic bases such as 4-dodecylaniline. Finally, voltammetric data shows that lipophilic DMFc can also be extracted to the aqueous acidic phase to react homogeneously with oxygen. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.