Electrochemical study on the keto-enol tautomerization of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid in aqueous solution

The keto-enol tautomerization of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid (pHPP) in aqueous solutions and the complexation reaction between enolic pHPP and boric acid have been studied by electrochemical techniques including linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), pulse voltammetry, and cyclic voltammetry (CV), combining with UV spectrometry. Electrochemical techniques reveal that in aqueous solution, there are two tautomers of pHPP: enolic form and ketonic form; the former exists mainly in freshly prepared pHPP solution, and the latter exists mainly in equilibrium solution. Both enolic and ketonic pHPP are electroactive. The electrochemical oxidation of enolic pHPP gives rise to two anodic waves, Ia and IIa, while the electrochemical oxidation of ketonic pHPP only results in the observation of the second wave IIa. The oxidation process Ia is revealed to be associated with the quasi-reversible, two-electron two-proton oxidation of “CC”group at the side chain of enolic pHPP, and the oxidation process IIa is proposed to result from the irreversible oxidation of phenolic hydroxyl group. It is observed that in aqueous solution, enolic pHPP can quickly complex with boric acid to yield enol-borate complex that can also oxidize at a glassy carbon electrode to yield an anodic wave.