“…Structurally, BDS is analogous to piperylene sulfone, which carries an extra C1 methyl group and has similar physical properties (dipole moment D = 5.32, dielectric constant ε = 42.6, and solvent polarity π* = 0.87) as DMSO ( D = 4.27, ε = 46.7, and π* = 1.00), a common solvent for diverse organic reactions. At above 90 °C, BDS undergoes reversible cheletropic degradation into gaseous 1,3-butadiene (BD) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), which have been shown to revert back to liquid or solid BDS at up to 96% upon cooling in the presence of excess SO 2 and 1 wt % hydroquinone inhibitor in a sealed environment. , As a reagent, BDS has been shown to be a safer source of 1,3-BD for Diels–Alder reactions between conjugated diene and maleic anhydride or 1,4-dihydronaphthalene than the highly volatile ( T b = −4.4 °C) counterpart. In the presence of water, BDS could also supply sulfurous acid to simultaneously solubilize lignin and hydrolyze xylan in biorefining. , …”