Reduction Mechanism of 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium Chloride and 1,3,5-Triphenylformazan

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Abstract
The reduction mechanism of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride(TTC) and 1,3,5-triphenylformazan was studied by electrochemical, ESR, and spectrophotometric methods. In non-aqueous aprotic solvent, 2,3,5-triphrnyltetrazolium ion was reduced to formazan anion either by two-electron reaction or by disproportionation reaction of tetrazolinyl radical generated by one-electron reduction of TTC. The same formazan anion was generated by one-electron reduction of 1,3,5-triphenylformazan. In the presence of proton donor, the formazan anion was converted to formazan by protonation reaction and cyclic regeneration of formazan was observed in the reduction of formazan. These results indicate that the quantitative determination of reducing materials by using TTC may possibly lead to erroneous evaluation of reductants unless the strength of electron donating property of reductants is established.

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