Can chlorine react with fuming sulfuric acid to produce chlorosulfonic acid?
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Waste sulfuric acid (80%) containing dried chlorine is mixed with fuming sulfuric acid to concentrate sulfuric acid; can the trace amount of chlorine remaining after dechlorination of the waste sulfuric acid react with fuming sulfuric acid under acidic conditions to produce chlorosulfonic acid?
This post was last edited by qugd on 2016-12-12 at 14:56. Chlorine does not react with sulfuric acid or fuming sulfuric acid to form chlorosulfonic acid. Chlorosulfonic acid is produced by the reaction of hydrogen chloride with sulfur trioxide (or fuming sulfuric acid). When chlorine reacts to form compounds, there must be a change in oxidation state. However, in chlorosulfonic acid, the chlorine atom simply replaces one of the hydroxyl groups in sulfuric acid; it is a chlorine atom with an oxidation state of -1. Therefore, for a reaction to take place, a chlorine atom with a positive oxidation state is required.