sulfolane
Sign in to saveSulfolane (also tetramethylene sulfone, systematic name: 1-thiolane-1,1-dione) is an organosulfur compound, formally a cyclic sulfone, with the formula . It is a colorless liquid commonly used in the chemical industry as a solvent for extractive distillation and chemical reactions. Sulfolane was originally developed by the Shell Oil Company in the 1960s as a solvent to purify butadiene. Sulfolane is a polar aprotic solvent, and it is miscible with water.
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Properties
- Synthesis
- Uses
- As a pollutant
- See also
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Sulfolane (also tetramethylene sulfone, systematic name: 1-thiolane-1,1-dione) is an organosulfur compound, formally a cyclic sulfone, with the formula . It is a colorless liquid commonly used in the chemical industry as a solvent for extractive distillation and chemical reactions. Sulfolane was originally developed by the Shell Oil Company in the 1960s as a solvent to purify butadiene. Sulfolane is a polar aprotic solvent, and it is miscible with water.
==Properties== Sulfolane is classified as a sulfone, a group of organosulfur compounds containing a sulfonyl functional group. The sulfone group is a sulfur atom doubly bonded to two oxygen atoms and singly bonded to two carbon centers. The sulfur-oxygen double bond is polar, conferring good solubility in water, while the four carbon ring provides non-polar stability. These properties allow it to be miscible in both water and hydrocarbons, resulting in its widespread use as a solvent for purifying hydrocarbon mixtures.