The sulfur-oxygen double bond is polar, conferring good solubility in water, while the four carbon ring provides non-polar stability.

The original method developed by the Shell Oil Company was to first allow butadiene to react with sulfur dioxide via a cheletropic reaction to give sulfolene.

Recently, it was found that Ni-B/MgO showed superior catalytic activity to that of Raney nickel and other common catalysts that have been used in the hydrogenation of sulfolene.

[3] The first large scale commercial use of sulfolane, the sulfinol process, was first implemented by Shell Oil Company in March 1964 at the Person gas plant near Karnes City, Texas.

Some methods that have been developed to regenerate spent sulfolane include vacuum and steam distillation, back extraction, adsorption, and anion-cation exchange resin columns.

Groundwater in parts of the city of North Pole, Alaska, has been contaminated with sulfolane due to pollution from a now-closed petroleum refinery.

[6] Animal studies on the toxicity of sulfolane are ongoing, funded through the US federal government's National Toxicology Program.