Structure via PubChem · Public domain (PubChem)
sulfolane
Sign in to saveAlso known as tetramethylene sulfone, (CH2)4SO2, tetrahydrothiophene 1-dioxide, sulfolan, 1,1-dioxidetetrahydrothiophene, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrothiophene-1,1-dioxide, thiophane dioxide, thiacyclopentane dioxide
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.
Chemical data
- Formula
- C4H8O2S
- Molecular weight
- 120.17 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- thiolane 1,1-dioxide
- SMILES
- C1CCS(=O)(=O)C1
- InChIKey
- HXJUTPCZVOIRIF-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- XLogP
- -0.8
- Polar surface area
- 42.5 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 2
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
Research
321 papers- Treatment of sulfolane in groundwater: A critical review.Journal of environmental management · 2020
- Sulfolane-Based Flame-Retardant Electrolyte for High-Voltage Sodium-Ion Batteries.Nano-micro letters · 2024
- Sulfolane-Induced Supercharging of Electrosprayed Salt Clusters: An Experimental/Computational Perspective.Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry · 2021
- Ion Transport in Glyme- and Sulfolane-Based Highly Concentrated Electrolytes.Chemical record (New York, N.Y.) · 2023
- Clustering and Sorption of Sulfolane and Pyridine onto Silicates.The journal of physical chemistry. B · 2025
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 120.025
Show 6 more facts
- canonical SMILES
- C1CCS(=O)(=O)C1
- Commons category
- Sulfolane
- chemical formula
- C₄H₈O₂S
- boiling point
- 285
- melting point
- 27.6
- ionization energy
- 9.80
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Properties
- Synthesis
- Uses
- As a pollutant
- See also
- References
- Unused refs, now with ids and titles
- External links
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.