Verfahren zur Sulfonierung von Acyloxybenzolen und zur Neutralisierung der resultierenden Produkte

A method is provided for sulfonating an acyloxy substituted benzene ring to obtain high yields of desired sulfonated compounds that are useful as cleaning, bleaching, or fabric treating additives. A particularly preferred additive so prepared has the structure where R is a branched or unbranched alkyl with about 5 to 9 carbons and M is an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, or ammonium. The benzene ring is sulfonated by contacting with a molar excess of sulfur trioxide source and then irreversibly reacting the sulfur trioxide excess with a quenching agent. A neutralization process for preparing peracid precursors in high yield by neutralizing sulfonated aryl esters is also provided.