The electrochemical oxidation of pyridoxol (PN) on a polycrystalline gold electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS). In 0.1 M aqueous NaOH solution, the gold electrode showed a high catalytic activity for the irreversible oxidation process of PN. The individual ionic species and the major tautomeric equilibria of PN molecules in aqueous solutions were evidenced well from the pH-dependent attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectra, and the results were in good agreement with the voltammetric observations. In situ single potential alteration infrared reflectance spectroscopy (SPAIRS) demonstrated that a lactone form of PN, rather than pyridoxal aldehyde, was likely formed, which was subsequently diffused into the thin layer solution and underwent hydrolysis slowly to pyridoxic acid (PA) as the final product. In addition, the adsorption of PN at Au electrode was characterized by in situ subtractively normalized interfacial Fourier transform infrared reflectance spectroscopy (SNIFTIRS) method, which revealed that the adsorption of deprotonated PN, via nitrogen atom in vertical configuration on electrode surface, occurred from -0.5 V versus Ag\AgCl\KCl(sat), which was much lower than the potential of PN electrooxidation observed from ca. 0 V. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.