Thermodynamically Favorable Conversion of Hydrogen Sulfide into Valuable Products through Reaction with Sodium Naphthalenide.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) is an extremely hazardous chemical waste that is generated at large scale in many industries; its abatement has long been an energy-extensive and cost-ineffective liability due to the thermodynamic limitations of the selected approaches and low value of the final products, sulfur and water. Here we introduce an attractive method for H2 S abatement that yields value-added products via a thermodynamically favorable process. Specifically, sodium naphthalenide (Na-NAP) is used to capture H2 S to produce anhydrous Na2 S nanocrystals and 1,4-dihydronaphthalene, which are important materials for batteries and liquid fuels, respectively. This multipurpose process is driven by the acid/base neutralization reaction between hydrogen cations from H2 S and radical anions from naphthalenide. It is spontaneous and irreversible at ambient temperature and pressure, proceeding to completion very rapidly.