Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Interesting substances from SO2...

kazaa81 - 5-11-2005 at 12:50

Hallo to all,

after some cough, I and SO2 have becomed friend!
What can I prepare with this gas?

Thanx all for help!

Marvin - 5-11-2005 at 17:08

Pulminary edaema.

Magpie - 5-11-2005 at 18:48

Early in my career I had a job in the technical service department of a paper pulp mill. For the "sulfite" cooking liquor the operators would make SO2 by burning sulfur. We (tech staff) would have to periodically go down to the burner room to run an Orsat analysis (must have been for O2 content of the exit gas). It would nearly gag us around the burner. But the operators did not complain - in fact they said it increased their sexual potency! (I'm not recommending this.)

The SO2 was mixed with lime water to form Ca(HSO3)2 for the liquor. This was done by running the gas countercurrent to the lime water in an absorbtion column. The column packing was small wood logs about 12" (30cm) long. This always made me laugh just thinking about it as I was fresh out of school where we of course only talked of Raschig rings and Intalox saddles.

Mr. Wizard - 5-11-2005 at 19:22

Quote:
Originally posted by Magpie
Early in my career I had a job in the technical service department of a paper pulp mill. For the "sulfite" cooking liquor the operators would make SO2 by burning sulfur. We (tech staff) would have to periodically go down to the burner room to run an Orsat analysis (must have been for O2 content of the exit gas). It would nearly gag us around the burner. But the operators did not complain - in fact they said it increased their sexual potency! (I'm not recommending this.)

The SO2 was mixed with lime water to form Ca(HSO3)2 for the liquor. This was done by running the gas countercurrent to the lime water in an absorbtion column. The column packing was small wood logs about 12" (30cm) long. This always made me laugh just thinking about it as I was fresh out of school where we of course only talked of Raschig rings and Intalox saddles.


It all boils, or burns, down to saving a dollar. DOW chemicals got started making Bromine from brines using tarred wood to make the Chlorine electrolysis cells. Even then they thought it was ugly, but it held up well. In essence,it's the ideal of amateur science too. Expensive equipment and supplies allows us to do things in a predictable, repeatable way, without reinventing the wheel every time we must distill water, do a titration, or weigh out a chemical.

" Amateur achieves cold fusion with candles and distilled water" ... highlights at 11. ;)

garage chemist - 6-11-2005 at 04:26

From SO2 you can make sulfury chloride SO2Cl2.
Though you need a lot of glassware to assemble the apparatus to do that.

SO2 and Cl2 must be generated simultaneously in equal volume streams and must both be dried with H2SO4.
SO2 for this purpose must be made from sodium metabisulfite + an acid, burning of sulfur can never be used for this purpose because the SO2 is way too impure.

Dry SO2 and Cl2 must then be mixed and the mix fed into the top of a liebig cooler filled with active charcoal as the catalyst.
Water has to run through the cooler in order to dissipate the heat of reaction.

If done right, SO2Cl2 will drip out of the low end of the condenser.

There is also the camphor method where SO2 and Cl2 are bubbled sperately one after the other into camphor, when enough SO2Cl2 has formed they can be added simultaneously.
The SO2Cl2 has to be distilled from the camphor after this.

SO2Cl2 is very useful, in combination with a radical initiator like dibenzoyl peroxide (I think that acetone peroxide can be used too) it can, via a radical reaction mechanism, chlorinate toluene to benzal chloride without risk of overchlorination (benzotrichloride can't be formed here) and without any ringchlorination.

By refluxing with an excess of methanol, dimethyl sulphate could possibly be prepared.

By refluxing with an exactly calculated amount of water, chlorosulfonic acid can be prepared.

Marvin - 6-11-2005 at 04:28

"But the operators did not complain - in fact they said it increased their sexual potency! "

Low level SO2 would probably affect the body like a persistant lung infection, it would not become immune but it might stop retaliating. Increased sex drive is probably due to the body unconsciously thinking its in danger of dying soon.

kazaa81 - 6-11-2005 at 06:28

TO ALL WHO'VE TALKED ABOUT ILLNESS:
Getting ill isn't an interesting thing to do with SO2!

If I can get an setup for SO2Cl2, I will first try SCl2!

Any idea about SO2 derived compounds welcomed!

Marvin - 8-11-2005 at 06:22

I'm not suggesting you would make yourself ill on purpose. Interesting doesn't come into it.

kazaa81 - 8-11-2005 at 12:30

Ok, sorry for the harsh reply!

Any information and experiment welLcomed!

The_Davster - 8-11-2005 at 16:18

Saturating a KOH solution with SO2 and then reacting with KNO2 gives N(SO3K)3. It is something I have been wanting to try for a while. Decomposes within a month though.

I wonder if N(SO3K)3 could be nitrated to N(NO2)3 by replacing the SO3K groups with NO2 in an analogous way to how HNIW can be made from that condensation product of glyoxal and K-sulphamate? N(NO2)3 could be rather interesting if it exists, but I digress...

woelen - 8-11-2005 at 23:37

SO2 forms a complex with iodide. That is a very interesting reaction. Just add some potassium iodide or sodium iodide to a solution of SO2 in water or to an acidified solution of a sulfite. This complex is said to have formula [I.nSO2](-), with n being 1, 2, 3 or 4. It is intensely colored yellow.

When you have the possibility to liquify SO2, then you can dissolve KI in SO2 and extract the solid complex, but that unfurtunately is out of reach for me :( .

kazaa81 - 9-11-2005 at 14:24

Hi,
thanks all for interesting suggestions!

If instead of KOH one uses NaOH, would the product be also nitrable?