Electrochemical fluorination of 1,4-difluorobenzene using boron-doped diamond thin-film electrodes

Electrochemical behavior of boron-doped diamond thin-film electrodes has been studied by measuring cyclic voltammograms (CV) for anodic oxidation of 1,4-difluorobenzene in the liquid electrolyte, neat Et4NF . 4HF, and electrochemical fluorination has been successfully carried out for the first time using diamond. While the CVs for Pt and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, respectively, contained waves associated with the formation of adsorbed oxygen or platinum oxide layer and the intercalation of fluoride ion, the CVs for diamond consisted essentially solely of the wave attributable to the fluorination of 1,4-difluorobenzene in the same sweep range indicating a wide potential window and high chemical/electrochemical stability of diamond electrodes. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Society. S1099-0062(99)03-068-0. All rights reserved.