Sodium salts

Sodium salts are salts composed of a sodium cation and the conjugate base anion of some inorganic or organic acids. They can be formed by the neutralization of such acids with sodium hydroxide.

Categorization

Sodium salts can be categorized into:

• sodium salts of carboxylic acids (e. g. sodium formate, HCOONa, the sodium salt of formic acid or sodium acetate, CH₃COONa, the sodium salt of acetic acid, etc.) and
• sodium salts of inorganic acids (sulfonic acids etc.)

Organic sodium salts

Sodium salts of some fatty acids

Sodium oleate, the sodium salt of oleic acid.

Sodium palmitate, the sodium salt of hexadecanoic acid.

Sodium stearate, the sodium salt of octadecanoic acid.

Drugs

In pharmaceutical technology acidic pharmaceutical substances are often converted into sodium salts, because they are more stable, more soluble or membrane-permeable (bioavailable) than the base compound. Examples of such sodium salts are (selection): Bispyribac, bithionol, bosentan, brequinar, bromfenac, Cefmenoxime, ceftiofur, citicoline, diclofenac, Floxacillin, fosinopril, Mordant brown 33, naproxen, Netobimin, ozagrel, pantoprazole, pemetrexed, secobarbital, sitamaquin, sitaxentan, sulfamiderazin, sulfapyridine, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfathiazole, sulfazecin, thiamylal and mesna. The disodium salt of cromolyn is also used as drug. Most of these salts are sodium salts of organic carboxylic acids or sulfonic acids.

In 2022, sodium salts was the 216th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 1 million prescriptions.

Plant protection agents

Herbicides are often used as sodium salts for the reasons discussed above. One example is the sodium salt of methylflupyrsulfuron (CAS-No. 144740-54-5).

Cosmetics

Sodium salts of long chain sulfonic acids (e.g. sodium lauryl sulfate) are often included in toothpaste and shampoo. The sodium salts of fatty acids may serve as soaps and can therefore be called sodium soaps.

Dye production

Sodium salts of certain aromatic sulfonic acids - particularly naphthalenesulfonic acid - are used in the preparation of azo dyes.

Inorganic sodium salts

Examples of important inorganic sodium salts are sodium fluoride, sodium chloride, sodium bromide, sodium iodide, sodium sulfate, sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate. Sodium amide (NaNH₂) is the sodium salt of ammonia (NH₃).