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sulfonic acid

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sulfonic acid

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Also known as sulfonic acids

organic compound with the structure R−S(=O)₂−OH

~9 min read

Encyclopedic overview

General structure of a sulfonic acid with the functional group indicated in blue

In organic chemistry, sulfonic acid (or sulphonic acid) refers to a member of the class of organosulfur compounds with the general formula R−S(=O)2−OH, where R is an organic alkyl or aryl group and the S(=O)2(OH) group a sulfonyl hydroxide. A sulfonic acid can be thought of as sulfuric acid with one hydroxyl group replaced by an organic substituent. The parent compound (with the organic substituent replaced by hydrogen) is the parent sulfonic acid, HS(=O)2(OH), a tautomer of sulfurous acid, S(=O)(OH)2. Salts or esters of sulfonic acids are called sulfonates.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “sulfonic acid” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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