Organic Polarographic Analysis deals with the applications of polarography in the analysis of organic compounds. The principles, techniques, and apparatus of organic polarography are discussed, and some selected examples of the applications of organic polarography in various fields of applied chemistry are presented. The direct methods in which the sample is simply dissolved in a suitable supporting electrolyte are also considered. This book consists of 11 chapters and opens with an overview of the basic principles of the polarographic method of analysis, as well as the different types of polarographic limiting currents and of electrode processes. The reader is then introduced to the instruments used in polarography, including the polarograph, dropping and reference electrodes, and electrolysis vessels. Experimental techniques in organic polarography are also described, along with some of its practical applications in fields such as pharmacy, medicine, and biochemistry. Subsequent chapters explore polarographic methods used in the analysis of organic substances, including direct and indirect methods of analysis; separation techniques; and the use of polarography in organic synthesis and isolation of natural products. This monograph is written primarily for organic and analytical chemists.

Even though the nwnber of requests for reprints and the number of quotations in the Science Citation Index has indicated an ever-increasing interest in topics of organic polarography, I have often felt that the reason that some work is less known may well be because the papers were published in less accessible journals. Therefore, I was pleased when I was asked to prepare a selection of my papers on organic polarography for reprinting. This collection of papers may indicate some of the possibilities offered by polarography in the study of properties of organic compounds. The fact that the papers are published in one volume, not only makes the information more easily accessible for the reader, but also enables a direct comparison of related topics. The mode of selection is discussed in the Introduction. The papers reprinted in this volume are mostly based on work carried out in the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Polarography of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Prague, in cooperation with my co-workers. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all of them for the pleasure I got from this cooperation on the solution of varying problems of organic electrochemistry .

Presents the basic concepts and principles in an easy-to-read manner, with practical applications from multiple disciplines.