The electroreduction of methyl viologen

In electroreduction, after the transfer of the first electron to methyl viologen, MV2+, resulting in formation of the radical cation, MV˙+, the electron transfer to MV˙+ without chemical complications occurs only under special conditions: the species more readily reduced than MV˙+ are the dication or monocation dimers, MV22+ or MV2˙+, formed in reactions in solution near the electrode.