Sulfurous acid

Sulfurous acid is a weak acid with the chemical formula H₂SO₃. It is produced by dissolving sulfur dioxide in water. Bases deprotonate (remove the hydrogen ion) it to produce sulfites. It tends to turn back into sulfur dioxide and water again. It is a weak reducing agent.

Sulfurous acid has two tautomers, or chemical structures that easily change into each other. One is the SO(OH)₂ form, and the other is a sulfonic acid, HSO₂OH. The bisulfite ion, when sulfurous acid loses only one hydrogen atom, has the shape of the sulfonic acid tautomer.^[1]

Related pages

References

↑ Johansson, L.-G.; Lindqvist, O.; Vannerberg, N.-G. (1980). "The structure of cesium hydrogensulfite". Acta Crystallographica Section B Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. 36 (11): 2523–2526. Bibcode:1980AcCrB..36.2523J. doi:10.1107/S0567740880009351.

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[1] Johansson, L.-G.; Lindqvist, O.; Vannerberg, N.-G. (1980). "The structure of cesium hydrogensulfite". Acta Crystallographica Section B Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. 36 (11): 2523–2526. Bibcode:1980AcCrB..36.2523J. doi:10.1107/S0567740880009351.

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