A p-dimethylaminobenzenesulfonate (MSE) polycrystalline powder is converted
to the zwitterionic product p-trimethylammoniumbenzenesulfonate (ZWT) by a
chemical thermally induced reaction at T=55,5 degrees C. Experimental resu
lts obtained by differential scanning calorimetry and C-13 solid-stare NMR
indicate that reaction-induced stress gives rise to a ferroelastic lattice
instability during the thermally enhanced solid state reaction of methyl p-
dimethylaminobenzenesulfonate (MSE).