Determination of the reactivity of the anti-cancer nitrogen mustard-mechlorethamine: A cyclic voltammetric investigation

We have investigated the electrochemical interaction between mechlorethamine and organic solvents i.e. acetone and acetonitrile,in the presence and absence of 4-chloro butyronitrile (cbn) using cyclic voltammetric technique. we found the reactivity (chemical reactivity) of mechlorethamine through the value of the forward reaction rate constants (kf) in acetone and acetonitrile,in the presence and absence of cbn were 0.1601 s-1,0.4828 s-1,0.1365 s-1,0.2724 s-1,respectively. these values of kf were determined from the curves of kft versus t with correlation coefficient values are higher than 0.9500. the values of kf affected by the donor number (dn) of solvents and also the structure of the nucleophilic compound were added. this is due to acetone has a larger dn than acetonitrile therefore kf in acetone is higher than that in acetonitrile. cbn reduces the value of the chemical reactivities of mechlorethamine in both solvents. this can occur because cbn is a simple structure that is why it can interact directly with mechlorethamine. © 2015 by cee (center of excellence in electrochemistry).