Xanthate salts of alkali metals are produced by the treatment of an alcohol, alkali, and carbon disulfide. The process is called xanthation. In chemical terminology, the alkali reacts with the alcohol to produce an alkoxide, which is the nucleophile that adds to the electrophilic carbon atom in CS. Often the alkoxide is generated in situ by treating the alcohol with sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide:
:ROH  +  CS  +  KOH  →  ROCSK  +  HO
For example, sodium ethoxide gives sodium ethyl xanthate.  Many alcohols can be used in this reaction. Technical grade xanthate salts are usually of 90–95% purity.  Impurities include alkali metal sulfides, sulfates, trithiocarbonates, thiosulfates, sulfites, or carbonates as well as residual raw material such as alcohol and alkali hydroxide. These salts are available commercially as powder, granules, flakes, sticks, and solutions are available. 
Some commercially or otherwise useful xanthate salts include:
* sodium ethyl xanthate  CHCHOCSNa
* potassium ethyl xanthate, CHCHOCSK
* potassium isopropyl xanthate, (CH)CHOCSK
* sodium isobutyl xanthate, (CH)CHCHOCSNa
* potassium amyl xanthate, CH(CH)OCSK
The OCS core of xanthate salts, like that of the carbonates and the esters has trigonal planar molecular geometry.  The central carbon atom is sp-hybridized.