Sodium benzenesulfonate is an organic compound with the formula C6H5SO3Na. It is white, water-soluble solid, It is produced by the neutralization benzenesulfonic acid with sodium hydroxide. It is also a common ingredient in some detergents. The compound typically crystallizes from water as the monohydrate.[1]

Heating this salt in strong base results in desulfonation, giving, after acid workup, phenol[2] This reaction was at one time, the principal route to phenol.

References

  1. ^ Otto Lindner; Lars Rodefeld (2005). "Benzenesulfonic Acids and Their Derivatives". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a03_507. ISBN 978-3527306732.
  2. ^ W. W. Hartman (1923). "p-Cresol". Organic Syntheses. 3: 37. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.003.0037.