Sulphonate salts hydrogen bonding

Sulphoxides and sulphones form hydrogen bonds with proton donors and association complexes with metallic salts by using either the oxygen atom or the sulphur atom in their S—O linkages. The capability for the formation of hydrogen bonds or complexes depends... 

Another marked physical difference between sulphides and sulphoxides (or sulphones) is that sulphoxides (and lower alkyl sulphones) are hygroscopic and dissolve quite readily in water or protic solvents such as alcohols, and even more so lower alkyl or alkyl aryl sulphoxides are almost freely miscible with water. This can be accounted for by the formation of the strong hydrogen bond between the S—O bond in the sulphoxides and water molecules. Moreover, lower alkyl sulphoxides and sulphones such as dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) or sulpholene can dissolve a number of metallic salts, especially those of alkali and alkaline earth metals, and hence these compounds have been widely utilized as versatile and convenient solvents in modern organic chemistry26 (Table 3). 

The sulphurous acid liberated in the second phase of the process by the addition of hydrochloric acid hydrogenates the azo-double bond, probably via an addition product A, of which one S03H-group is easily removed by hydrolysis with the formation of the sodium salt of phenylhydrazine sulphonic acid. 

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