Oxidation of anthracene to anthraquinone by the anodically generated oxidant V5+ and both V5+ and . OH free radicals generated cathodically was carried out simultaneously in an undivided cell. Both the yield and selectivity of anthraquinone by paired electro-oxidation are higher than that by anodic oxidation only. The maximum total current efficiency for anthraquinone production in the paired electro-oxidation was 151 %. A process for anthraquinone production using an undivided cell electrolyser is proposed.