Abstract: The electrochemical oxidation of phenylenediamines with a following irreversibie deami-nation reaction was studied by cyclovoltammetry. Within the pH studied, there is only oneoxidation Wave for N,N-diethylphenylenediamine(1a), but two oxidation waves for N,N,N,N-tetrathlphenylenediamine(2a).In acidic media, the electrochemical oxidation of N,N-diethylaminophenol(3a)proceeds via two-electron transfer, but at higher pH two singleelectron transfer are involved. The rate constant of the deamination reaction kf was deter-mined as a function of pH, the mechanism of deamination was discussed.

Key words: substituted phenylenediamines, deamination, electrochemical oxidation