The electroreduction of methyl viologen

Abstract

In electroreduction, after the transfer of the first electron to methyl viologen, MV²⁺, resulting in formation of the radical cation, MV˙⁺, the electron transfer to MV˙⁺ without chemical complications occurs only under special conditions: the species more readily reduced than MV˙⁺ are the dication or monocation dimers, MV₂²⁺ or MV_2˙+, formed in reactions in solution near the electrode.