The path of 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt stretches back to the heightened interest in surfactants and ion-pairing reagents blossoming in the later decades of the twentieth century. Scientists, hungry for greater sensitivity in liquid chromatography, stumbled onto alkanesulfonates as sturdy partners for separating basic compounds. The community didn’t just adopt it overnight; they wrestled with simpler, cheaper options at first, like sodium dodecyl sulfate, but moved on once cleaner chromatographic separations proved more valuable. Each iteration didn’t just bring purer salt, but a reputation for reliability in the most demanding analytical tests. My own work in graduate school grew around these compounds, sometimes soaking glassware for days just to get the purest octanesulfonate, bearing witness to the rigor expected of its use.
1-Octanesulfonic acid sodium salt usually appears as a white to off-white crystalline powder, carrying little scent and dissolving clear in water. Labs rely on its ability to act as an ion-pair reagent. This isn’t a newcomer — it routinely serves in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to break stubborn interactions that traditional buffers leave behind. Its presence smooths the journey for molecules prone to sticking or hiding on the column, nudging them loose for faster, sharper detection. Suppliers have refined its manufacture to serve pharma, food safety, and biotech researchers who demand high grade and zero nonsense when chasing down hard-to-separate molecules.
Expect a melting range near 270°C before decomposition, and water solubility high enough to simplify solution prep even in busy analytical labs. The molecular formula, C8H17NaO3S, points to a chunky eight-carbon chain, keeping it more hydrophobic than its shorter cousins. This chain tugs both oil-loving and water-loving molecules, pulling double duty during extractions and separations. Chemically, a strong acid anchors the sulfonic group, handing off a proton in solution and cementing its reputation as a stable ionic compound. Direct sunlight and moisture invite clumping or yellowing if the product is left uncapped, so dry, tight storage keeps properties within spec.
When picking up a bottle from a reputable supplier, the label usually brags about a content assay above 98%, ensuring minimal interference from unreacted alkylsulfonates or water. Trace metals often show up as low as 10ppm, which stands essential when working with ultra-trace chromatography. Some vials might also highlight the product’s compatibility with pharmaceuticals, meaning the salt meets not just analytical but also chemical purity regulations. Container labeling follows the rules set by agencies like OSHA and the EU CLP, listing the molecule name, formula, lot number, and necessary hazard warnings — critical for anyone wanting to track their work or revisit results later.
Synthesis of 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt doesn’t shy away from harsh chemistry. Starting with 1-octene or octanol, industrial processes channel a mix of sulfur trioxide and concentrated sulfuric acid, pushing the reaction toward sulfonation. Carving out the sodium salt usually involves neutralization with sodium hydroxide in a carefully controlled addition. Small-batch prep can get messy, with acid fumes and slippery reaction mixtures begging for skilled hands and respect for the hazards. In the past, I recall scrubbing glassware clear of stubborn, greasy residues — reminders that each link in the process demands attention or the final crystallization step will reward only with impure, sticky masses.
Octanesulfonates don’t just live in chromatography vials. The sulfonic acid group stands out for strong acidity, able to force its way into water for clean dissociation. Given its stable nature, this salt resists many common transformations, but stronger oxidizers may chew through the alkyl chain if left unchecked. Chemists with patience have explored swapping sodium for other cations, leading to new salts and tweaks to physical properties. Some have tried grafting longer or shorter alkyl chains to adjust hydrophobicity for stubborn molecules. Years back, I tinkered with potassium octanesulfonate, hoping for sharper resolution, but soon found sodium led to fewer headaches in everyday runs.
People refer to this chemical in a variety of ways depending on the situation and industry. Popular names in scientific catalogs include sodium 1-octanesulfonate, sodium n-octanesulfonate, and even sodium n-octylsulfonic acid. The moniker “OSA sodium salt” creeps into shorthand lab speak, while regulatory documentation might stretch to “octane-1-sulfonic acid, sodium salt.” Watch for these name changes in literature searches since database results hinge on a keyword match. Forgetting to check for synonyms can cost hours when tracking down technical reports or patent filings.
Handling isn’t without risk, even though this chemical falls outside the most severe hazard categories. The powder irritates eyes and lungs when airborne, and direct skin contact can trigger redness and dry patches. Standard lab procedures call for gloves, goggles, and—if weighing large amounts—a dust mask. Years of industry experience proved industrial hygiene always trumps shortcuts. Safety Data Sheets cite risks associated with thermal decomposition, which might generate toxic fumes like sulfur oxides. Working under a fume hood and keeping unused stock sealed grows into a habit rather than an afterthought. Disposal routes match those for non-halogenated organics, with dedicated chemical waste bins required by environmental agencies.
The most common application comes in HPLC, especially when separating basic, polar compounds like amines, peptides, and certain pharmaceuticals. Its knack for forming ion pairs makes peaks sharper and analyses faster, especially for busy clinical and quality control labs. Beyond that, some folks in synthetic research rely on it for aqueous-phase extraction or as a phase-transfer catalyst. Environmental chemists deploy these salts in water testing, tracking down pollutants by coaxing them onto detection columns. Food safety teams have also joined in, testing everything from energy drinks to dietary supplements for illegal additives.
Academic and industry labs push research on octanesulfonates, looking for ways to expand its use in analytics, catalysis, and even pharmaceuticals. Analytical chemists tweak its structure or pair it with novel solvents, hoping to unlock separation of exotic molecules in proteomics or metabolomics. Some biotech companies are looking into using alkylsulfonates during protein purification from fermentation broths, where foaming and aggregation hurt yield if not controlled. Graduate students still grind through variations of column testing, sharpening their protocols with each batch. Regular trade shows buzz with chatter about improved formulations, hinting at the salt’s staying power in research.
Preliminary animal data and in vitro studies don’t peg 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt as acutely toxic. That said, detailed testing remains ongoing, since oral ingestion in high doses led to discomfort or changes in organ weights in some lab animals. Chronic exposure studies are rare, and the lack of long-term environmental breakdown raises questions about aquatic toxicity. Water treatment plants have flagged potential bioaccumulation, so regulations often treat discharge cautiously. Those planning extensive use in food, pharma, or environmental applications need to stay alert to new findings as regulatory stances shift with new research.
With the world’s hunger for more sensitive, selective chemical detection, demand for reliable ion-pairing reagents like this only rises. As chromatography gets leaner and greener, researchers experiment with less toxic solvents and more biodegradable alternatives, sometimes finding that tailored sulfonate salts bridge the gap. Creative organic synthesis links might coax new reactivity out of octanesulfonic acid derivatives. Regulatory tightening, especially in pharma and enviro-testing, means purity and traceability standards will only climb higher. The researchers of tomorrow may harness this compound not just for separation, but as a springboard for designing smarter, more selective molecules that shape how we test, treat, and monitor the substances swirling through modern life.
Some chemical names barely register with most people. 1-Octanesulfonic acid sodium salt is one of those names—a mouthful with little recognition outside analytical labs. Yet, its impact turns up in places no one would expect. Over the years working in a university lab, I saw this compound make routine chemistry much easier in surprising ways.
Talking about chemistry isn’t always exciting, but high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) often comes up in conversations among scientists. To separate similar substances in a liquid mixture takes more than water and solvents. I relied on 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt as an ion-pairing agent to get sharp and clean separation of molecules. Especially when dealing with tough-to-detect substances like amino acids or certain drugs, chemists use this compound in the mobile phase. The alkyl sulfonate head and sodium tail interact with both water and non-polar molecules. This action helps stubborn analytes—which usually avoid water—move through columns at the right speed for precise measurement.
Various quality control labs depend on these methods. Pharmaceutical companies screen batches for impurities. Clinical laboratories chase down metabolites and drug residues to support patient care. This one chemical salt forms a trusted bridge between tricky, unpredictable molecules and the complex data on a computer screen. It’s reassuring to know there’s a tool that brings order to chaos in a lab that’s always looking for the next best result.
Food and beverage industries quietly owe a debt to 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt, too. Detecting artificial sweeteners or preservatives—ingredients almost impossible to pick apart otherwise—becomes possible with its help. Water monitoring programs lean on this compound as well. Public health agencies track down pesticides, industrial chemicals, or pharmaceutical traces in water. Without the push this salt gives those detection systems, a lot more contaminants would slip by undetected.
Handling any chemical calls for a healthy respect for risks. This compound is not classified as severely toxic, but inhalation or long-term skin contact isn’t smart. I once had a spill on the bench—nothing dramatic, but enough to remind me to close the lid and keep the gloves on. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) recommends using it in a well-ventilated area and storing away from acids and oxidizers. Following those safety instructions means fewer headaches and a lot less paperwork down the line.
Most suppliers carry 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt for reasonable prices, so stocking up rarely hurts a research project’s budget. That affordable access opens up sophisticated analytical chemistry for smaller colleges and start-ups. I’ve seen students put together research on pharmaceuticals and food safety—work that wouldn’t happen so easily if the tools cost a fortune or weren’t reliable.
Laboratories striving for consistent, high-quality results adopt reliable reagents. The biggest labs and the smallest ones share at least that piece of the puzzle. 1-Octanesulfonic acid sodium salt keeps showing up where precision counts, offering a steady hand in analytics whether tracking contaminants or supporting drug development. Reliable tools create better science, and that leads to safer food, purer water, and trusted medicines.
Step into any lab where folks run chromatography or prepare solutions for chemical analysis, and 1-Octanesulfonic Acid Sodium Salt probably shows up on a shelf. The utility of this compound reaches beyond a fancy name—scientists use it for ion pairing in HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography), which can separate molecules with precision. Accuracy in preparation makes all the difference, turning the focus right toward knowing molecular weights inside and out.
For this compound, the molecular weight clocks in at 240.32 g/mol. Breaking it down, each part comes with a unique atomic mass: sodium, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen all add up. You’d get these values from trusted scientific sources and chemical suppliers—Sigma-Aldrich, Tokyo Chemical, and PubChem back this figure up as well.
Precision means less room for costly mistakes. Scoop out too much or too little, your results shift and can cost hours of research time. In a lab early in my career, we watched results slide off track after a junior team member weighed out the wrong mass for a mobile phase additive. One small error threw away days of sample prep. Getting the right molecular weight translates to peace of mind—fewer headaches down the road when calculating molar concentrations or making sure your reaction mixture hits just the right composition.
In the everyday routine, chemists dissolve a certain amount of compound in water to make a specific molarity solution. Grab the wrong molecular weight, and suddenly your buffer solution doesn’t behave. That kind of error can push retention times in chromatography, mess up reproducibility, and even jeopardize results meant for regulatory submission. The FDA expects firms to support findings with solid science, and molecular weights anchor that chain of reliability.
Mistakes pop up in labs, especially with compounds carrying names filled with prefixes and suffixes. Sometimes, sodium salts and their corresponding acids get confused, which can introduce mix-ups—molecular weights differ between plain 1-octanesulfonic acid and its sodium salt by 22.99 g/mol, the weight of sodium. Teams working under pressure can grab a datasheet for one but end up using another, especially if they share storage space.
Online calculators and spreadsheets help, but cross-checking figures with reputable chemical databases (such as ChemSpider or PubChem) catches errors early. Reading supplier labels and data sheets before making up important solutions helps, too. Assembling a good habit of double-checking not only avoids embarrassing callbacks but also means critical analyses run smoothly.
Chemistry leans heavily on details. Students and new technicians benefit from getting familiar with tools like molecular weight calculators, but ultimately, trusting those numbers comes down to reliable sources and a habit for skepticism. Practicing double-checks before weighing or mixing saves projects from setbacks.
Building a bench culture where questions are welcome, where everyone pauses a moment to verify before moving, can cut down on the kind of mistakes that waste time and money. So, for folks reaching for that bottle of 1-Octanesulfonic Acid Sodium Salt, knowing 240.32 g/mol means adding certainty to every step ahead.
Most chemists bump into 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt pretty early in analytical work. It’s a crucial ion-pairing reagent in liquid chromatography, which is just a fancy way of saying it helps scientists separate tough-to-analyze chemicals. But this isn’t something to keep around in a lunchroom cupboard. Good storage habits keep the salt stable and everyone safer. Plenty of seasoned researchers know stories about chemicals gone wrong — bottles that caked up, hygroscopic powders melting into sticky messes, labels vanishing into smudges. Nobody wants that.
My old lab’s storeroom taught me a few things. Chemicals like 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt despise moisture. Left open or poorly capped, it draws water right out of the air, turning from powder to goo. Humidity leads to unpredictable results and ruined reagents. Best bet: keep it in tightly sealed, screw-top containers. Push out extra air before closing and avoid opening bottles for long stretches.
Temperature matters, too. This salt won’t explode if it gets warm, but higher temps nudge along chemical breakdown, especially if the salt has picked up water. Leave it on a sunny windowsill, and soon enough, clumping and caking follow. Keep it dry and cool — ambient indoor temps under 25°C work for most storerooms. Avoid freezers since condensation can sneak in during thawing, creating as much trouble as humid air.
Direct sunlight does chemicals no favors. Oddly, even sturdy reagents lose integrity after months exposed to the sun’s rays. If your shelf catches strong light, shift chemicals inward or stash them in cabinets. Lab supply companies usually ship this compound in opaque jars for good reason.
I remember hunting for a reagent one morning and finding two unmarked bottles. No labels mean mystery contents, so into the chemical waste they went. Always mark your containers right when they arrive: not just product, but also receipt date, lot number, and your initials. Unlabeled bottles start the slow shuffle to destruction — even experienced techs can’t identify every white powder by sight.
Regular inspection actually beats fancy monitoring systems for most labs. A quick look for lumps, color shifts, or odd smells can save an experiment. If the salt looks off, it probably isn’t worth risking an analysis or your chromatograph’s performance.
No safety talk lands hard enough until you see someone’s sandwich on a chemical bench. All reagents belong in chemical storage, separate from food and drink. Dust from the salt can scatter during weighing, and accidental cross-contamination gets ugly fast. Washing up after handling seems simple, but a lot of problems get traced back to someone not rinsing hands after prepping mobile phases.
Most lab veterans would agree — keeping 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt safe is a matter of clear labels, snug lids, dry air, cool cabinets, and a little discipline. These practical moves protect both experiments and the folks who make science happen. Small habits stop big messes before they start, and that makes the daily grind smoother and safer for everyone counting on reliable results.
Reading chemical labels or material safety data sheets can get overwhelming, and 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt sure sounds like something you wouldn’t toss around. Chemically, this compound pops up in analytical labs, especially for separating ions by HPLC. Folks in chemistry circles know it as a “reagent salt,” but average users might not see it outside of research settings.
Let’s talk about what actually goes wrong with this chemical. Data from Sigma-Aldrich and Fisher Scientific show that direct skin or eye contact may trigger irritation. Breathing in dust raises another set of problems, with reports of coughing or throat discomfort. You won’t see talk of carcinogenic effects in the standard literature; chronic harm doesn’t get mentioned. Still, the safety data repeats the basics: avoid contact, don’t breathe dust, and keep it off your clothes.
Unlike strong acids or flammable solvents, 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt doesn’t flash up, corrode through desk surfaces, or explode. The risk sits mostly with exposure during use, not with long-term storage or accidental spillage. Think along the lines of working with other lab-grade powdered salts: If you handle it carelessly, you get irritation. That’s a warning to use gloves, eye protection, and maybe a lab coat—nothing new for lab workers but important for anyone less familiar.
I’ve spent years in chemistry labs, and chemicals like 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt don’t worry people as much as concentrated acids or volatile solvents, but everyone still respects the protocol. The biggest mistakes show up when people skimp on personal protection gear or open containers in a hurry, letting powders drift into the air. A single careless scoop can send fine particles flying, and you’ll feel it in your nose and eyes for hours. Spills prove easy to clean, though. Standard practice calls for sweeping it up and wiping with water—no elaborate chemical neutralization.
Disposing of this reagent gets less complicated than for hazardous organic solvents or reactive metals. After proper dilution, most guidelines treat small amounts as aqueous waste. No one likes unnecessary environmental impact, but the risk of a mishap with a few grams of this compound—handled correctly—rarely turns into an emergency.
Disclosure and proper training matter here. Clear instructions and access to gloves, goggles, and good ventilation set you up for safe use. Storage means keeping bottles tightly closed in dry conditions, away from incompatible chemicals—just regular lab practice. Label containers so no one confuses this powder with food ingredients, since mistaken identity has led to real hospital visits over the years.
Problems pop up most often with new lab staff or outside the specialized research scene. Training sometimes assumes everyone remembers chemical safety basics; reminders and refreshers help a lot. I remember one workplace where gloves sat out of reach, and people started with bare hands “because it’s just a salt.” Leadership stepped in with better access to PPE and a short briefing on what can go wrong if you get complacent. The number of minor incidents dropped right away.
Emergency planning works, too. If someone gets powder in the eyes, running water should always be ready nearby, along with emergency contacts. If you see white dust along the shelf, someone skipped cleaning. Assign clear responsibility so spaces stay tidy.
At the end of the day, 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt doesn’t crack the list of notorious hazards, but everything depends on respect and consistency. No one wants avoidable injuries over a bit of powder. With a few habits and some common sense, this compound stays out of trouble, just like most routine chemicals found in modern labs.
Anyone digging into water-soluble ion-pairing agents for chromatography runs into 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt. Lab supply catalogs and online marketplaces usually list the purity for this compound between 98% and 99%, with HPLC and LC-MS grades often sitting at the high end. If your research depends on reliable separation in ion chromatography or reversed-phase work, even a fraction of a percent can make a surprising difference.
Purity takes center stage in the lab for good reason. Impurities in a reagent like 1-octanesulfonic acid sodium salt show up as noise in sensitive detectors, background peaks, or worse—unwanted reactions. Folks running routine analyses for pharmaceuticals or environmental samples know that an extra 0.5% impurity can cost hours in troubleshooting ghost peaks. There was a time in my own graduate work when lower purity led to days of sorting out baseline drift. High-purity reagents don’t just guard the data; they protect your sanity.
Most chemical suppliers post certificates of analysis or technical data sheets with each product. For this particular compound, general lab grade typically comes in around 98%. Some suppliers flag “ultra pure” or “chromatography grade” batches as ≥99%. That number might not look like much of a leap, but in analytical chemistry, it’s a big deal. The difference isn’t just a reduction in other octane derivatives or sulfonic contaminants—sometimes batch residue, residual solvents, or trace metals tip the balance.
HPLC users check for “maximum absorbance” across UV wavelengths because small amounts of organic impurities can wreck quantitation down to sub-ppm levels. If you’re in an industry where trace analysis sets regulatory decisions, a 1% impurity means something gets flagged, and suddenly you’ve got a compliance issue. Even educational settings see impacts. Undergrads get puzzled by bad chromatogram shapes from lower-grade salts—it’s not just about the high-end folks.
Quality control depends partly on manufacturing scale and purification steps. Some big names in chemical supply handle multiple purification runs, screening every lot by HPLC and sometimes ICP for metals. Others just repackage what they get, offering a “standard” rather than chromatographic grade. Online vendors with lower prices often sacrifice consistency in favor of selling volume. I’ve seen seasoned lab managers who won’t trust anything without a recent, batch-specific COA.
Rather than relying on marketing claims, buyers should always ask for batch test data and look for suppliers transparent about analytical methods. Some research groups handle their own QC checks before using a new batch, even sending for third-party analysis when a project demands high reproducibility. It’s also common to run a test separation or blank injection as a fast check—a step that can spare a week of wrangling with ghost peaks or instrument fouling.
The push for higher transparency has grown stronger as science itself gets more collaborative. Peer-reviewed publications expect detailed reagent sourcing and purity information. Regulatory bodies want full disclosure for compound identity and contaminants. One solution: support suppliers who release detailed QC metrics and engage in open dialogue about lot variability. Research budgets aren’t endless, but cutting corners on key reagents rarely pays off in the long run.
| Names | |
| Preferred IUPAC name | Sodium 1-octanesulfonate |
| Other names |
1-Octanesulfonic acid sodium salt Sodium 1-octanesulfonate Sodium n-octanesulfonate Sodium octane-1-sulfonate |
| Pronunciation | /ˈoʊk.teɪn.sʌlˌfɒn.ɪk ˈæs.ɪd ˈsoʊ.di.əm sɔlt/ |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS Number | “5324-84-5” |
| Beilstein Reference | 1307936 |
| ChEBI | CHEBI:63867 |
| ChEMBL | CHEMBL15507 |
| ChemSpider | 16142 |
| DrugBank | DB01806 |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.031.181 |
| EC Number | EC 248-929-7 |
| Gmelin Reference | 86035 |
| KEGG | C01744 |
| MeSH | D017372 |
| PubChem CID | 23665773 |
| RTECS number | WN5250000 |
| UNII | 973L80A44A |
| UN number | UN2583 |
| CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | DTXSID3054674 |
| Properties | |
| Chemical formula | C8H17NaO3S |
| Molar mass | 272.36 g/mol |
| Appearance | White crystalline powder |
| Odor | Odorless |
| Density | 1.22 g/cm3 |
| Solubility in water | Soluble in water |
| log P | -3.2 |
| Acidity (pKa) | -2.1 |
| Basicity (pKb) | pKb ~ -3.7 |
| Magnetic susceptibility (χ) | -47.5e-6 cm³/mol |
| Refractive index (nD) | 1.454 |
| Viscosity | Viscous liquid |
| Dipole moment | 1.74 D |
| Thermochemistry | |
| Std molar entropy (S⦵298) | 430.6 J·mol⁻¹·K⁻¹ |
| Pharmacology | |
| ATC code | V03AX |
| Hazards | |
| Main hazards | Causes serious eye irritation. Causes skin irritation. May cause respiratory irritation. |
| GHS labelling | GHS labelling: `"Danger; H315, H319, H335; P261, P305+P351+P338, P302+P352; Exclamation mark"` |
| Pictograms | GHS05 |
| Signal word | Danger |
| Hazard statements | H302: Harmful if swallowed. |
| Precautionary statements | Precautionary statements for 1-Octanesulfonic Acid Sodium Salt: "P264, P270, P301+P312, P330, P501 |
| NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | 1-0-0 |
| Flash point | Greater than 250°C (482°F) |
| Lethal dose or concentration | LD50 (oral, rat): 5200 mg/kg |
| LD50 (median dose) | LD50 (median dose): Oral rat LD50 > 2000 mg/kg |
| PEL (Permissible) | Not established |
| REL (Recommended) | 100 mg/L |
| IDLH (Immediate danger) | Not established |
| Related compounds | |
| Related compounds |
Octanesulfonic acid 1-Octanesulfonic acid Sodium dodecyl sulfate Sodium hexanesulfonate Sodium decanesulfonate |
