Talk:Aromatic sulfonation

Q: Why is the reaction reversible? what makes it different from other electrophilic aromatic substitutions?

A: The reaction profile of sulfonation (the arched diagram showing the relative energy of reactants and products) isn't as steep- this means that the enthalpy of the benzene-sulfoxide group isn't that dissimilar to that of the C=C double bond. This means the forward reaction doesn't give out as much energy as say, nitration of benzene (which is irreversibe), and it is easy enough to put this energy 'back in' and go back.

The practical upshot of this is that sulfonation is a good way to either block certain sites (and thus force later additions onto specific sites on the ring) or change the reactivity of an aromatic compound. This allows for more accurately creating the compounds you want in processes involving rings. The 'protecting' sulfoxide group can then be removed easily enough afterward. Alexanderhowell (talk) 02:01, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Stub Status
I propose this article is marked { { Reaction-stub } } Alexanderhowell (talk) 02:01, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Proposed merge of Sulfonation into Aromatic sulfonation
No sources but also does seem sufficient to stand alone as an article Slywriter (talk) 19:57, 10 June 2022 (UTC)