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 cyanohydroxyiminoacetate product can even be obtained in virtually quantitative yield. The compound can be purified by recrystallization from ethanol or ethyl acetate. Compared with the benzotriazole derivatives 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) and 1-hydroxy-7-azabenzotriazole (HOAt) (which are widely used as peptide-linking reagents but are explosive), ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate exhibits a markedly slowed thermal decomposition on heating. Ethyl cyanohydroxyiminoacetate is a white solid which is soluble in many solvents common in the synthesis of peptides, such as dichloromethane or dimethylformamide (DMF). In crystalline form, the compound is present as an oxime, whereas it exists as a salt or in a strongly basic solution predominantly as a