Assessment of non-aqueous solvents in the electrooxidation of resorcinol, phloroglucinol, pyrogallol and role of co-solvent in determination of pyrogallol with microelectrode voltammetry

This study reveals the behavior of resorcinol, phloroglucinol and pyrogallol in several non-aqueous solvents (acetonitrile, acetone, dimethyl sulphoxide, dimethyl formamide, nitrobenzene, nitromethane, dichloromethane, methanol). The voltammetric curves showed that the results obtained with the outlined compounds depend strongly on the solvent used. Resorcinol and phloroglucinol undergo some fouling during their electrooxidation while pyrogallol gave reproducible voltammograms in many solvents. The optimal solvent was chosen then for the determination of pyrogallol in cooking oil taking into consideration the antifouling, miscibility, permittivity and viscosity effects with steady-state voltammetry by using microelectrode. Keywords: Resorcinol; Phloroglucinol; Pyrogallol; Co-solvent; Microelectrode