Sodium ethyl xanthate Sodium ethyl xanthate Sodium ethyl xanthate (SEX) is an organosulfur compound with the chemical formula CHCHOCSNa. It is a pale yellow powder, which is usually obtained as the dihydrate. Sodium ethyl xanthate is used in the mining industry as a flotation agent. A closely related potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX) is obtained as the anhydrous salt. As with most xanthates, sodium ethyl xanthate can be prepared by treating sodium ethoxide with carbon disulfide: Sodium ethyl xanthate is a pale yellow powder. It is relatively stable in water at high pH if not heated. It rapidly hydrolyses at pH <9 at 25
Ethyl group to polystyrene. Approximately 24.7 million tons of ethylbenzene were produced in 1999. Many ethyl-containing compounds are generated by electrophilic ethylation, i.e. treatment of nucleophiles with sources of Et. Triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate [EtO]BF is such a reagent. For good nucleophiles, less electrophilic reagents are employed, such as ethyl halides. In unsymmetrical ethylated compounds, the methylene protons in the ethyl substituent are diastereotopic. Chiral reagents are known to stereoselectively modify such substituents. The name of the group is derived from the Aether, the first-born Greek elemental god of air (and at that time a general term for any highly volatile compound) and "hyle",