Kinetic peculiarities of the reaction of liquefied hydrogen sulfide with propylene oxide

The kinetics of the liquid-phase reaction of hydrogen sulfide with propylene oxide was studied. In the presence of excess epoxide, the reaction occurred in two successive macrostages: (1) formation of 2-hydroxypropane-1-thiol and (2) formation of 1,1′-di(2-hydroxypropyl) sulfide. Both of the stages are autocatalytic. 2-Hydroxypropane-1-thiol was mainly formed in the presence of excess H2S. The overall third order of the reaction (the first with respect to each reagent and to 2-hydroxypropane-1-thiol) was found. A kinetic scheme was proposed, and the rate constants of particular stages were calculated. The influence of various catalysts (active carbon, ion-exchange resins, metal oxides, and others) was studied, and the relative efficiency of some of them was determined.