Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Decomposition of sulfuryl chloride

akre - 12-9-2004 at 19:35

I'm sitting on one litre of Sulfuryl chloride (Cl2O2S). Does anyone know a safe way to decompose it?

JohnWW - 12-9-2004 at 20:17

If the SO2Cl2 and its container are still sealed and in good condition, and you have no use for it or its hydrolysis product (H2SO4 contaminated with HCl, which can be made by adding it slowly to cold water) you could try selling it on eBay, if you can be sure that freight firms can accept it for transport (it is corrosive to skin).

It is used as a chlorinating and sulfonating agent in organic chemistry. It should be possible to use it as an alternative to SOCl2 to make alkyl chlorides from alcohols, and acyl chlorides from carboxylic acids, with H2SO4 byproduct.

John W.

akre - 13-9-2004 at 08:20

Wouldn't it release HCl och SO2 gasses if mixed with water? What about dripping it into a solution of KOH or NaOH? (for neutralizing the acids)?

Anyway, if someone living near Stockholm in Sweden is interested, I'll GIVE it away. The bottle is unbroken and still in it's protective tin can.

This substance seem too nasty for me.

Theoretic - 13-9-2004 at 09:33

"I'm sitting on one litre of Sulfuryl chloride (Cl2O2S). Does anyone know a safe way to decompose it?"

Daaargh! He's crazy! :o He wants to destroy holy-grail-sulfuryl-chloride! Lock him up! He's MENTAL!

Well, maybe I over-reacted a bit, ;) but whatever you do, don't destroy it. Just don't sit on it and you're safe. Put it away, and look for a friend who's interested in chemistry and knows at least the basics, and give it to him. If you destroy the stuff and tell a friend about it - beware, he may be a home chemist and strangle you on the spot for your crime. :)

From the nutcase

akre - 13-9-2004 at 10:29

Hi Theoretic!!!!

So what so fancy about sulfuryl chloride? Just get it from the nearest chemical supplier!
I was going to sulfonate polystyren with it. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I realized i need a real lab to do this.

neutrino - 13-9-2004 at 13:15

Quote:
Originally posted by akre
So what so fancy about sulfuryl chloride? Just get it from the nearest chemical supplier!


[bangs head on desk]

Why do you think we have so many fancy syntheses for things like this? Because we can't buy them from chem suppliers. This is due to several reasons:

1. Price: chems from major chem suppliers are not cheap

2. Availibility: Not all of us have access to these suppliers, many of which only sell to buisnesses/research institutions.

3. Privacy: Chances are, if you do manage to order something like this, it will raise some eyebrows, putting you on the List

4. Some of us, like me, like to make some our own chemicals instead of simply buying them in order to prepare our selves in case of apocalypse/tighter gov't legislation on chems/something else that makes them unavilable, where we won't have our convenient suppliers

So do you guys...

akre - 13-9-2004 at 14:56

have any tip for using this stuff? Besides chlorination of benzene?

neutrino - 13-9-2004 at 19:02

If you really want to get rid if the stuff, react the stuff with water to form hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, although that is a waste. My suggestion would be to store it, as it'll probably come in handy later.

mick - 14-9-2004 at 04:57

There may come a time in every man's , or woman's, life when it may seem necessary to disposes of certain chemicals, this could become a source of great regret in later life.
Anyway, the book Destruction of Hazardous Chemicals in the Lab suggests adding it cautiously with stirring to 2.5M sodium hydroxide. 5ml SOCL2 to 100ml alkali, neutralizing and discarding.I would have had some ice in there.I would have thought if it reacts with water as fast as thionyl chloride you could have added it to plenty of ice + salt + water carefully with stirring, and then added sodium carbonate a bit at a time until no CO2.
Now, chlorosulfonic acid is in a different league.
mick

It is even worse when your ex-wife skips all your stuff with out telling you, and you had spoke to her a couple of weeks earlier.

[Edited on 14-9-2004 by mick]

solo - 26-5-2007 at 08:42

i wonder if although its a source of Cl not HCL as thionyl chloride , one can use it to chlorinate an alcohol and if so what solvent can one use.....with thionyl chloride I use chloroform but I'm at a loss as what to use whith sulfuryl chloride ......I have looked at the threads related and I wasn't convinced either way ......only that it is in the same group as TCCA and the like as chlorine source..........solo

garage chemist - 26-5-2007 at 18:48

Sulfuryl chloride can NOT be used to chlorinate alcohols!
Look it up in "The war gases" (Mario Sartori, available in the library), sulfuryl chloride gives alkyl chlorosulfates with alcohols.

The reaction of sulfuryl chloride with methanol or ethanol is VERY violent, I have done this as an experiment in test-tube scale long ago. It is almost uncontrollable, every drop of sulfuryl chloride that falls into the alcohol produces a sharp crack and a burst of steam and spatter. Sartori recommends that the alcohol be cooled to -10°C or lower IIRC to moderate the reaction.
The resulting alkyl chlorosulfates are very strong lachrymators!
Sulfuryl chloride + methanol or ethanol would make an evil binary tear gas grenade.

There might be the possibility that the resulting alkyl chlorosulfates can react with further amounts of alcohol to produce dialkyl sulfates (heres the possibility for an oleum- free method for dimethyl or diethyl sulfate).
But since at low temperatures the chlorosulfates are the only product, this reaction would probably require prolonged reflux with an excess of alcohol.

In contrast to this, the reaction of sulfuryl chloride with water is very slow. I did an experiment, adding a few drops of it to water- it sank down forming an oily lower layer. Nothing dissolved upon swirling. Even after 24h, there was still a lot of unreacted sulfuryl chloride.

Sulfuryl chloride is much easier to produce than thionyl chloride: lead gas streams of sulfur dioxide and chlorine through a tube filled with ativated charcoal, and sulfuryl chloride drops out at the other end. The tube should be cooled ince the reaction is exothermic.
Another method uses a discontinuous approach: camphor is used as the catalyst, onto which SO2 and Cl2 are lead alternately in a glass flask. It soon becomes liquid, and sulfuryl chloride can be distilled off when enough liquid has acumulated.
The latter method is detailed in Sartoris book.

Sauron - 26-5-2007 at 19:40

Sulfuryl chloride is a free-radical chlorination reagent when used in combination with an initiator such as benzoyl peroxide or AIBN.

As I live in a country where SO2Cl2 is restricted, as are SO2 and Cl2, the thought of someone who has a liter and wants to destroy it makes me sick.