Sulfanilic acid (4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) is an organic compound with the formula H3NC6H4SO3. It is an off-white solid. It is a zwitterion, which explains its high melting point. It is a common building block in organic chemistry.[4]
Synthesis
Sulfanilic acid can be produced by sulfonation of aniline with concentrated sulfuric acid.[5] This proceeds via phenylsulfamic acid; a zwitterion with a N-S bond. Eugen Bamberger originally proposed a mechanism involving a series of intramolecular rearrangements, with phenylsulfamic acid forming orthanilic acid, which rearranged to sulfanilic acid on heating.[6][7] Subsequent radiosulphur studies showed that the process is intermolecular, with the phenylsulfamic acid desulfating to generate sulfur trioxide, which then reacts with aniline at the para position in manner similar to a Bamberger rearrangement.[8][9]
^Illuminati, Gabriello (June 1956). "A Reinvestigation of the Role of Phenylsulfamic Acid in the Formation of Aminobenzenesulfonic Acids". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 78 (11): 2603–2606. doi:10.1021/ja01592a075.
^Spillane, W.J.; Scott, F.L. (January 1967). "Radiosulphur studies on the rearrangement of phenylsulphamic acid to sulphanilic acid". Tetrahedron Letters. 8 (14): 1251–1253. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(00)90678-6.
^Scott, F.L.; Spillane, W.J. (January 1967). "The isomerization of orthanilic acid to sulphanilic acid in the presence of sulphuric acid-S35". Tetrahedron Letters. 8 (28): 2707–2711. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(01)89979-2.
^G. H. Jerffery; J. Bassett; J. Mendham; R. C. Denney (1989). "Colorimetry and Spectrophotometry". Vogel's Textbook of Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 5th Edition. Longman. p. 702. ISBN0-582-44693-7.
^Holm, John V.; Ruegge, Kirsten.; Bjerg, Poul L.; Christensen, Thomas H. (1995). "Occurrence and Distribution of Pharmaceutical Organic Compounds in the Groundwater Downgradient of a Landfill (Grindsted, Denmark)". Environmental Science & Technology. 29 (5): 1415–1420. Bibcode:1995EnST...29.1415H. doi:10.1021/es00005a039. PMID22192041. S2CID2994687.