chemistry

Hydroxylammonium sulfate

Hydroxylammonium sulfate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hydroxylammonium sulfate rather than just read about it. In short: Hydroxylammonium sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula [NH3OH]2SO4. A colorless solid, it is the sulfate salt of hydroxylamine.

Key takeaways

Hydroxylammonium sulfate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hydroxylammonium sulfate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hydroxylammonium sulfate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hydroxylammonium sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula [NH3OH]2SO4. A colorless solid, it is the sulfate salt of hydroxylamine. It is primarily used as an easily handled form of hydroxylamine, which is a volatile liquid.

Production Hydroxylammonium sulfate is prepared industrially by protonation of hydroxylamine. The latter is produced by the hydrogenation of nitric oxide using a platinum catalyst:

2 NO + 3 H2 + H2SO4 → [NH3OH]2[SO4] Another route to NH2OH is the Raschig process: aqueous ammonium nitrite is reduced by HSO−3 and SO2 at 0 °C to yield a hydroxylamido-N,N-disulfonate anion:

[NH4]+[NO2]− + 2 SO2 + NH3 + H2O → [NH4]2[HON(SO3)2] This ammonium hydroxylamine disulfonate anion is then hydrolyzed to give hydroxylammonium sulfate:

[NH4]2[HON(SO3)2] + 2 H2O → [HONH3]2SO4

Applications

Almost all hydroxylamine and its salts are used to make precursors to nylons via cyclohexanone oxime. Many aldehydes and ketones undergo the same conversion to oximes. carboxylic acids and their derivatives (e.g. esters) convert to hydroxamic acids. Isocyanates to N-hydroxyureas. Nitriles react to give amidoximes. Hydroxylammonium sulfate is also used to generate hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid from oleum or from chlorosulfuric acid. Hydroxylammonium sulfate is used in the production of anti-skinning agents, pharmaceuticals, rubber, textiles, plastics and detergents. It is a radical scavenger that terminates radical polymerization reactions and serves as an antioxidant in natural rubber. (NH3OH)2SO4 is a starting material for some insecticides, herbicides and growth regulators. It is used in photography as a stabiliser for colour developers and as an additive in photographic emulsions in colour film.

Structure

Hydroxylammonium sulfate exists as tetrahedral NH3OH+ cations and sulfate anions.

Safety Hydroxylamine, which occurs widely in nature, has low toxicity. The compound is stable below 120 °C.

References

External links International Chemical Safety Card 0898

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hydroxylammonium sulfate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hydroxylammonium sulfate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hydroxylammonium sulfate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hydroxylammonium sulfate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hydroxylammonium sulfate

In research: Hydroxylammonium sulfate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hydroxylammonium sulfate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hydroxylammonium sulfate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hydroxylammonium compounds, Photographic chemicals, Sulfates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hydroxylammonium sulfate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hydroxylammonium sulfate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hydroxylammonium sulfate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hydroxylammonium sulfate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hydroxylammonium sulfate in simple terms?

Hydroxylammonium sulfate is the inorganic compound with the formula [NH3OH]2SO4. A colorless solid, it is the sulfate salt of hydroxylamine.

Why does Hydroxylammonium sulfate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hydroxylammonium sulfate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hydroxylammonium sulfate.