Preparation
Sulfonic acid is produced by the process of sulfonation. Usually the sulfonating agent is sulfur trioxide. A particularly large scale application of this method is the production of alkylbenzenesulfonic acids:
- RC6H5 + SO3 → RC6H4SO3H
In this reaction, sulfur trioxide is an electrophile and the arene undergoes electrophilic aromatic substitution.
Thiols can be oxidized to sulfonic acids:
- RSH + 3/2 O2 → RSO3H
Certain sulfonic acids, such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid are prepared by electrophilic fluorination of preformed sulfonic acids. The net conversion can be represented simplistically:
- C8H17SO3H + 17 F2 → C8F17SO3H + 17 HF
Read more about this topic: Sulfonic Acids
Famous quotes containing the word preparation:
“With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man’s past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavours and the tinglings of a merited shame.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“It’s sad but true that if you focus your attention on housework and meal preparation and diapers, raising children does start to look like drudgery pretty quickly. On the other hand, if you see yourself as nothing less than your child’s nurturer, role model, teacher, spiritual guide, and mentor, your days take on a very different cast.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“Living each day as a preparation for the next is an exciting way to live. Looking forward to something is much more fun than looking back at something—and much more constructive. If we can prepare ourselves so that we never have to think, “Oh, if I had only known, if I had only been ready,” our lives can really be the great adventure we so passionately want them to be.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)