What are s-s bonds?

1 Answer
anor277
Feb 18, 2016

Presumably you mean a sulfur-sulfur bond?

Explanation:

Peroxide bonds, #O-O#, are known; what is the oxidation state of #O# here?

Polysulfide bonds are much more common. The next time you are in a lab, get some elemental sulfur, i.e. #S_8#, and drop some in water. As you probably know, sulfur is practically insoluble in water. Add a bit of sulfide salt, say #Na_2S#. The sulfur will go up magically. Why?

Elemental sulfur is reduced by sulfide to give a polysulfide salt:

#S_8(s) + S^(2-) rarr ""^(-)S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S^-#

The chain length can vary.

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