Sulfamic acid, also known as amidosulfonic acid, amidosulfuric acid, aminosulfonic acid, sulphamic acid and sulfamidic acid, is a molecular compound with the formula H3NSO3. This colourless, water-soluble compound finds many applications. Sulfamic acid melts at 205 °C before decomposing at higher temperatures to water, sulfur trioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen.
Sulfamic acid (H3NSO3) may be considered an intermediate compound between sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and sulfamide (H4N2SO2), effectively replacing a hydroxyl (−OH) group with an amine (−NH2) group at each step. This pattern can extend no further in either direction without breaking down the sulfonyl (−SO2−) moiety. Sulfamates are derivatives of sulfamic acid.
Production
Sulfamic acid is produced industrially by treating
urea with a mixture of
sulfur trioxide and
sulfuric acid (or
oleum). The conversion is conducted in two stages, the first being
sulfamation:
- OC(NH2)2 + SO3 → OC(NH2)(NHSO3H)
- OC(NH2)(NHSO3H) + H2SO4 → CO2 + 2 H3NSO3
In this way, approximately 96,000 tonnes were produced in 1995.
Structure and reactivity
The compound is well described by the formula H
3NSO
3, not the
tautomer H
2NSO
2(OH). The relevant bond distances are 1.44 Å for the S=O and 1.77 Å for the S−N. The greater length of the S−N is consistent with a single bond.
Furthermore, a neutron diffraction study located the hydrogen atoms, all three of which are 1.03 Å distant from the nitrogen.
In the solid state, the molecule of sulfamic acid is well described by a
zwitterionic form.
Hydrolysis
The crystalline solid is indefinitely stable under ordinary storage conditions; however, aqueous solutions of sulfamic acid slowly hydrolyse to ammonium bisulfate, according to the following reaction:
- H3NSO3 + H2O → NH4+HSO4−
Its behaviour resembles that of urea, (H2N)2CO. Both feature linked to electron-withdrawing centres that can participate in delocalised bonding. Both liberate ammonia upon heating in water, with urea releasing CO2, while sulfamic acid releases sulfuric acid.
Acid–base reactions
Sulfamic acid is a moderately strong acid,
Ka = 0.101 (p
Ka = 0.995). Because the solid is not
hygroscopic, it is used as a standard in
acidimetry (quantitative assays of acid content).
- H3NSO3 + NaOH → NaH2NSO3 + H2O
Double deprotonation can be effected in liquid ammonia to give the anion .
- H3NSO3 + 2 NH3 → + 2
Reaction with nitric and nitrous acids
With
nitrous acid, sulfamic acid reacts to give
nitrogen:
- HNO2 + H3NSO3 → H2SO4 + N2 + H2O
while with concentrated
nitric acid, it affords
nitrous oxide:
- HNO3 + H3NSO3 → H2SO4 + N2O + H2O
Reaction with hypochlorite
The reaction of excess
hypochlorite ions with sulfamic acid or a sulfamate salt gives rise reversibly to both
N-chlorosulfamate and
N,
N-dichlorosulfamate ions.
- HClO + H2NSO3H → ClNHSO3H + H2O
- HClO + ClNHSO3H Cl2NSO3H + H2O
Consequently, sulfamic acid is used as hypochlorite scavenger in the oxidation of aldehydes with chlorite such as the Pinnick oxidation.
Reaction with alcohols
Upon heating, sulfamic acid reacts with alcohols to form the corresponding
. It is more expensive than other reagents for doing this, such as chlorosulfonic acid or
oleum, but is also significantly milder and does not sulfonate aromatic rings. Products are produced as their
ammonium salts. Such reactions can be catalyzed by the presence of
urea.
Without the presence of any catalysts, sulfamic acid does not react with ethanol at temperatures below 100 °C.
- ROH + H2NSO3H → ROS(O)2O− +
An example of this reaction is the production 2-ethylhexyl sulfate, a wetting agent used in the mercerisation of cotton, by combining sulfamic acid with 2-ethylhexanol.
Applications
Sulfamic acid is mainly a precursor to sweet-tasting compounds. Reaction with
cyclohexylamine followed by addition of
sodium hydroxide gives C
6H
11NHSO
3Na,
sodium cyclamate. Related compounds are also
, such as acesulfame potassium.
Sulfamates have been used in the design of many types of therapeutic agents such as , nucleoside/nucleotide human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase inhibitors, HIV protease inhibitors (PIs), anticancer drugs (steroid sulfatase and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors), epilepsy drugs, and weight loss drugs.
Cleaning agent
Sulfamic acid is used as an acidic
cleaning agent and descaling agent, either pure or as a component of proprietary mixtures, typically for
and
. For cleaning purposes, there are different grades based on application such as GP grade, SR grade and TM grade. It is frequently used for removing
rust and
limescale, replacing the more volatile and irritating hydrochloric acid, which is cheaper. It is often a component of household descalant, for example, Lime-A-Way Thick Gel contains up to 8% sulfamic acid and has pH 2.0–2.2,
or
used for removal of
limescale. When compared to most of the common strong
mineral acids, sulfamic acid has desirable water descaling properties, low volatility, and low toxicity. It forms water-soluble salts of calcium, nickel, and ferric iron.
Sulfamic acid is preferable to hydrochloric acid in household use, due to its intrinsic safety. If inadvertently mixed with hypochlorite-based products, such as bleach, it does not form chlorine gas, whereas the most common acids would; the reaction (neutralisation) with ammonia produces a salt, as depicted in the section above.
It also finds applications in the industrial cleaning of dairy and brewhouse equipment. Although it is considered less corrosive than hydrochloric acid, corrosion inhibitors are often added to the commercial cleansers of which it is a component. It can be used as a descalant for descaling home coffee and espresso machines and in denture cleaners.
Other uses
-
Catalyst for esterification process
-
Dye and pigment manufacturing
-
Herbicide, as ammonium sulfamate
-
Descalant for scale removal
-
Coagulator for urea-formaldehyde resins
-
Ingredient in fire retardant. Sulfamic acid is the main raw material for ammonium sulfamate, which is a widely used herbicide and fire-retardant material for household products.
-
Pulp and paper industry, as a chloride stabilizer
-
Synthesis of nitrous oxide by reaction with nitric acid
-
The deprotonated form (sulfamate) is a common counterion for nickel(II) in electroplating.
-
Used to separate nitrite ions from mixture of nitrite and nitrate ions (NO3− + NO2−) during qualitative analysis of nitrate by brown ring test.
-
Obtaining deep eutectic solvents with urea
[Kazachenko, Aleksandr S.; Issaoui, Noureddine; Medimagh, Mouna; Yu. Fetisova, Olga; Berezhnaya, Yaroslava D.; Elsuf'ev, Evgeniy V.; Al-Dossary, Omar M.; Wojcik, Marek J.; Xiang, Zhouyang; Bousiakou, Leda G. "Experimental and theoretical study of the sulfamic acid-urea deep eutectic solvent" (2022) Journal of Molecular Liquids, 363, art. no. 119859. .]
-
As a treatment for removal of nitrite (NO2−) interference in Cyanide analysis.
Silver polishing
According to the label on the consumer product, the silver cleaning product TarnX contains
thiourea, a
detergent, and sulfamic acid.
Further reading
