A hydrocarbon in which a hydrogen atom has been replaced with the highly polar (SO2OX) group, where X is a metallic ion or alkyl radical. Petroleum sulfonates are refinery by-products of the sulfuric acid treatment of white oils. Sulfonates have important applications as emulsifiers and chemical intermediates in petrochemical manufacture, and substituted sulfonates are widely used as corrosion inhibitors. Synthetic sulfonates can be manufactured from special feedstocks rather than from white oil base stocks.