Electrochemical Reduction of Mono- and Dihalothiophenes at Carbon Cathodes in Dimethylformamide. First Example of an Electrolytically Induced Halogen Dance.

Cyclic voltammetry and controlled-potential electrolysis have been employed to probe the electrochemical reduction of a number of mono- and dihalothiophenes at carbon cathodes in dimethylformamide containing tetramethylammonium perchlorate. Reduction of 2-bromo-, 3-bromo-, 2-chloro-, 3-chloro-, and 2-iodothiophene gives rise to a single irreversible cyclic voltammetric wave for each compound that corresponds to the two-electron cleavage of the carbon-halogen bond, and thiophene is obtained as the only product. Cyclic voltammograms for the reduction of 2,3-dibromo-, 2,4-dibromo-, 2,5-dibromo-, 3,4-dibromo-, 2-bromo-5-chloro-, and 3-bromo-2-chlorothiophene each exhibit a pair of irreversible two-electron waves. Electrolyses of either 2,3-dibromo- or 2,4-dibromothiophene at potentials corresponding to the first voltammetric wave yield a two-to-one mixture of 3-bromo- and 3,4-dibromothiophene; under similar conditions, electrolyses of 2,5-dibromothiophene give a mixture of 2-bromo-, 3-bromo-, and 3,4-dibromothiophene, electrolyses of 2-bromo-5-chlorothiophene afford a mixture of 3-bromo-, 3,4-dibromo-, 3-bromo-2-chloro-, 4-bromo-2-chloro-, and 2-chlorothiophene, and electrolyses of 3-bromo-2-chlorothiophene yield 2-chlorothiophene. Aside from the last result, these product distributions appear to arise from an electrolytically induced halogen dance. When electrolyses of the dibromothiophenes and of 2-bromo-5-chloro- and 3-bromo-2-chlorothiophene are performed at potentials that correspond to the second voltammetric wave, thiophene is the only product obtained.