Ammonia → Methanesulfonic Acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A stirred, 1-liter, dry, stainless steel autoclave equipped with a 2ft-stainless steel condenser and addition inlets for ammonia, methanesulfonyl chloride (MSC), water and nitrogen gas was evacuated using a vacuum pump and then charged with 320 grams (18.8 moles) of ammonia. The autoclave was warmed to about 33° C., while the pressure was maintained by a pressure control valve set at 150 psig. The ammonia was refluxed at this pressure. Then the MSC (2.32 g, 2.02 moles) was added over a period of 10 minutes by means of nitrogen pressure while the temperature of the reactor increased to 51° C. The MSC addition was determined to be complete when the vapor temperature at the top of the condenser started to drop and the pressure in the reactor increased to equal the nitrogen pressure used to feed the MSC. At this point the MSC line was shut off. A quantitative recovery of the crude product (CH3SO2NH2 +NH4Cl) was obtained. NMR (in d6 -DMSO) analysis (TMS standard) indicated that additionally there was produced 1.7 mole % ammonium methanesulfonamide and 0.95 mole %, ammonium salt of methanesulfonic acid, based on the methanesulfonamide content. The detailed results are:

Provenance & Evidence