The general procedure for the synthesis of sodium dodecyl sulfonate from bromododecane was as follows: to a 250 mL round bottom flask was added an ethanol solution (40 mL) of 1-bromododecane (5 g, 20.06 mmol, 1.00 eq.) and an aqueous solution (40 mL) of sodium sulfite (5.2 g, 2.00 eq.). The resulting mixture was heated and reacted at 80 °C overnight. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and extracted with ethyl acetate (100 mL x 2). The organic phases were combined, washed with saturated saline (30 mL x 2), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate for 15 min, and concentrated under reduced pressure to give the crude product. The crude product was ground with hexane-methanol mixed solvent (20 mL×3) to obtain sodium dodecyl sulfate (5.2 g, 92% yield) as a white solid.
