Conversion of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur by direct oxidation

In a process wherein hydrogen sulfide is converted to elemental sulfur in the presence of oxygen, an improvement is made by employing an alcoholic solution of an alkali metal hydroxide, free of iron-group salts or other heterogeneous catalysts. High yields of pure sulfur are obtained from such reactions begun at room temperature, without a requirement for heterogeneous catalysts or troublesome intermediates such as sulfur dioxide.