Disulfur monoxide
Disulfur monoxide or sulfur suboxide is an unstable gas being a compound of sulfur and oxygen with formula S2O. It is one of the lower sulfur oxides. It is a colourless gas. It can be formed by reacting thionyl chloride with Silver sulfide:
- SOCl2 + Ag2S → AgCl + S2O.
This is done under low pressure and high temperature.[1] Another way to form it is via a glow discharge in sulfur dioxide.[2] The arrangement of atoms is SSO in a bent form. The angle formed at the central sulfur atom is 117.88°. The sulfur to sulfur bond length is 188.4pm, and the length of the oxygen bond is 188.4pm.[3] It can form an orange red condensate at liquid nitrogen temperatures. On decomposition at room temperature it forms SO2 and a polymeric sulfur oxide.[2]
It is the base oxide for thiosulfurous acid.[4]
Discovery
The gas was first produced by P. W. Schenk in 1933 with a glow discharge though sulfur vapour and sulfur dioxide. He discovered that the gas could survive for hours at single digit pressures of mercury in clean glass, but decomposed when the pressure went up to 30mm of mercury. However he believed that the formula was SO and called it sulfur monoxide. In 1940 K Kondrat'eva and V Kondrat'ev became convinced that the formula was S2O2, disulfur dioxide. However all were wrong until in 1956, David J. Meschi and Rollie J. Myers proved the formula was S2O.[5]
References
- ^ "Sulfur Halides". doi:10.1002/14356007.a25_623.
- ^ a b Cotton and Wilkinson (1966). Advanced Inorganic Chemistry A Comprehensive Treatise. p. 540.
- ^ Meschi, D.J. (1959). "The microwave spectrum, structure, and dipole moment of disulfur monoxide". Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy. 3 (1–6): 405–416. doi:10.1016/0022-2852(59)90036-0.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|laysource=,|laydate=,|month=,|laysummary=, and|quotes=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Alok Mittal. Objective Chemistry For Iit Entrance. p. 13.
- ^ David J. Meschi and Rollie J. Myers (30 July 1956). "Disulfur Monoxide. I. Its Identification as the Major Constituent in Schenk's "Sulfur Monoxide"". Journal of the American Chemical Societ. 78 (24): 6220. doi:10.1021/ja01605a002.