basic | inorganic chemistry F, ALBERT COTTON Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Texas A and M University College Station, Texas, USA GEOFFREY WILKINSON Professor of Inorganie Chemistry Imperial College of Science and Technology University of London, England JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. OTe New York London Sydney Toronto ,19 the group VIB elements: sulfur, selenium, tellurium and polonium 19-1 Introduction ‘The position of these elements in the periodic table has been discussed in Chapter 8, page 187, and some properties are listed in Table 8-6, page 202, There is very little resemblance to the chemistry of oxygen, the main reasons being the following: 1. Sulfur, Se, Te, and Po have lower electronegativities than oxygen, which means that their compounds have less ionic character. The relative stabilities of bonds to other elements are also different, and in particular the importance of hydrogen bonding is drastically lowered. Only very weak S~-H—S bonds exist and, for example, H,S is totally different from HO (page 212). 2. For sulfur particularly, as in other second-row elements, there is multiple da—px bonding but no pr—pr. bonding, The short S—O distances in the sulfate ion, where s and p orbitals are used in o bonding is a result of multiple de—px bond character through flow of electrons from filled px orbitals on O to empty dx orbitals on S. 3. The valence isnot confined to 2, and d orbitals can be utilized to form moze than four bonds to other elements. Examples are SF, and Te(OH). 4, Sulfur has a strong tendency to catenation and forms compounds with no O, Se, of Te analogs. Examples are polysufide ions, S,?~, polythionate anions, (0588,80,?~ and compounds XS,X, where X = H, Cl, CN, or NRz. The changes in properties of compounds on going from $ to Po can be aésociated with in- creasing size of the atoms and decreasing electronegativity. Some examples are: (a) The decreasing thermal stability of HX. (©) The increasing tendency to form complex ions like SeBrg?~ (©) The appearance of even some metal-like properties in Te and Po. . “Thus the oxides MOs are ionic and react with HCI to give the chlorides.312 | Twe GROUP vin cLEMENES: SULFUR, SELENIUM, TELLURIUA AND PoLONICAL 19-2 Occurrence and Reactions of the Elements Suffer occurs widely in nature as the element, as HS and SO,. in metal sulfide ‘ores, and as sulfates such as gypsum and anhydrite (CaSO,), magnesium sulfate, etc, Sulfur is obtained on a vast scale from natural hydrocarbon gases such as those in Alberta, Cenada, which contain up to 30% H,S; this is removed by interaction with $03, obtained from burning sulfur in ait, S +0, = SO, 2H,S + SO; = 38 + 2H,0 Selenium and telluriun are less abundant but frequently occur as selenide and telluride minerals in sulfide ores, particularly those of Ag and Au. They are recovered from flue dusts from combustion chambers for sulfide ores. Polonium occurs in U and Th minerals as a product of radioactive decay series. The most accessible isotope, Po. (z, 138-44) can be made in gram quantities by irradiation of Bi in nuclear reactors: f 209Bifn,y)? Bi 210p5 The Po can be separated by sublimation on heating. Its intensely radioactive and special handling techniques are required. The chemistry resembles that of Te but is somewhat more “metallic.” ‘The physical properties and structures of the elements have been described {pages 183, 187). On melting, first gives a yellow, transparent, mobile liquid that becomes dark and increasingly viscous above ea. 160°. The maximum viscosity occurs ca. 200° but on further heating the mobility increases until the boiling point, 444°, where the liquid is dark red. The “melting point” of Sy is actually a de- ‘composition point. Just after melting, rings with an average of 13.8 sulfur atoms are formed and at higher temperature, still larger rings. Then in the high viscosity region there are giant macro molecules that are probably chains with radical ends. At higher temperatures, highly colored S, and S, molecules are present to the extent of | to 3% at the boiling point. The nature of the physical changes and of the species involved are by no means fully understood Sulfur vapor contains Sq and at higher temperatures S, molecules. The latter, like Oa, are paramagnetic with two unpaired electrons, and account for the blue color ofthe hot vapor. Cyclosulfurs, S,,n = 6 — 12, soluble in CS, benzene, and cyclohexane are light sensitive and thermally unstable at 25°. Sulfur, Se, and Te burn in air on heating to form the dioxides; they also react, on heating with halogens, most metals, and nonmetals, They are attacked by hot oxidizing acids like H,SO, or HNO. In oleums {page 174), S, Se, and Te dissolve to give highly colored solutions that contain cations in which the element is ina fractional oxidation state, Sats of these cations that have stoichiometries M.?*, My”, and.M,g?* have-been obtained by selective oxidation of the elements with SbF, or AsF¢ in liquid HF. For example, Sq + 3SbF, = S,2* + 2SdF.~ + SbFsulfide ulfate, veh as ad by enide yare lecay ities sand outis ribed Athat sity >oint, ade toms osity dical at to vand ater, blue eare react vhot tions ‘sof been quid 19-3 Hydrides, MH J 313 or by reactions in molten AICI, for example, TTe + TeCl, + 4AICly = 2Te.?* + 4A1C- The $,2*, Seq*, and Te,?* ions are square (19-1) and there is probably a six electron quasi-aromatic system, The green Seq** ion has. ring structure (19-19. The S,¢?7 and Se,,?* ions have two Mg rings joined together. 19-1 19-11 ‘The reaction of sulfur with the double bonds of natural and synthetic rubbers, ‘a process called vulcanization, is of great technical importance: it leads to formation of S bridges between carbon chains and, hence, to strengthening of rubber. All reactions of Sy must involve initial ring opening to give sulfur chains oF chain compounds. Many reactions involve nucleophilic reactants, for example, Sa +8CN7 ——+ 8SCN7 Sa + 8Na;SO; ——> 8Na2S:05 S,+8Ph;P ——+ 8Ph,PS Such reactions proceed by a series of steps such as: Sy+CN7 ——+ SSSSSSSSCN~ -S—SCN- + CN- ——+ S,SCN7 + SCN™, ete, Sulfur-sulfur bonds occur in a variety of compounds, and —S—S— bridges are especially important in certain enzymes and other proteins. COMPOUNDS OF GROUP VI ELEMENTS 19-3 Hydrides, MH, These are obtained by action of acids on metal sulfides, selenides, or tellurides. © They are extremely poisonous gases with revolting odors. The toxicity of HS, far exceeds that of HCN. The thermal stability and bond strengths desrease down ” the series, whereas the acidity in water increases.sa) Hydrogen sulfide dissolves in water to give a solution ca. 0.1 M at 1 atm. Its dissociation constants are HS +H,O=H,O' FHS" Ke1x 107 HS” + H,0 = H,0* + $*- K=~107# Owing to this small second dissociation constant, essentially only SH™ ions are present in solutions of ionic sulfides, and S?~ occurs only in very alkaline solutions (28 MNuO#) as, S?° +H,0 = SH” + OH™ Kea ‘The compounds H. —S—S— to —Sssss' to HS, are generally known as sulfanes: they contain ‘chains. They can be obtained by reactions such as 2H,S() + 8,Cl; = 2HCMg) + HaS,..(0) 19-4 Halides and Oxohalides of Sulfur Sulfur fluorides. Direct uorination of Sy yields mainly SF, and traces of SF jg and SF, The tetrafuoride, SF, (bp —30") is evolved as a gas when SClp is refluxed with NaF in acetonitrile at 78 to 80°, 3SCh + 4NaF = SF, + S:Cl; + 4NaCl SF, is extremely reactive, and instantly hydrolyzed by water to SO, and HF. It is a very selective fuorinating agent converting C=O and, P=O groups smoothly into CF, and PF, and COOH and P(O)OH groups into CF; and PF _Broups. Sulfur hexafluoride is very resistant to chemical attack. Because ofits inertness, high dielectric strength, and molecular weight, itis used as a gaseous insulator in high-voltage generators and other electrical equipment. The low reactivity is presumably due to a combination of factors including high S—F bond strength and the fact that sulfur is both coordinately saturated and sterically hindered. Itis due to kinetic factors and not to thermodynamic stability, since the reaction of SF, with HO to give SO, and HF would be decidedly favorable (AF = = 460 k3 mol”). Sulfur Chlorides. The chlorination of molten sulfur gives $2Cls, an orange liquid of revolting smell. By using an excess of Cl, and traces.of FeCl, or Ty, as, catalyst, at room temperature, an equilibrium mixture containing ca: 85% of SCI is obtained. The dichloride dissociates within a few hours 28Ch == S:Ch+Ch +nits ‘sare tions tain LF io ured HE. oups PFs ness, orin yis ngth ered. unge 2,88 Gof 19-5 Oxides and Oxo Acids but itcan be obtained pure asa dark-red liquid by fractional distillation in presence of some PCI, which stabilizes SCly. Sulfur chlorides are solvents for sulfur, giving dichlorosulfanes up to about SyqoCla, which are used in the vulcanization of rubber. They are also used as mild chlorinating agents. Thionyl chloride, SOCI;, is obtained by the reaction $0, + PCI, = SOCL, + POCIs Its a colorless fuming liquid (bp 80°) readily hydrolyzed by water SOCI, + H,O = SO; + 2HCI Because of this reaction in which the volatile products are easily removed, SOCl ‘can often be used to prepare anhydrous chlorides. Examples are: Fe(OH), + 3SOCl, ——+ 380, + 3HCI + FeCl; FeCl,-6H,0 + 6SOCl, ——+ 680, + 12HCI + FeCl, ‘Thionyl chloride has a pyramidal structure with sulfur using a set of roughly sp* hybrid orbitals, one of which holds the lone pair. SOCI, can hence act as a weak Lewis base. Suluryl chloride, SOC, is obtained by the reaction 80; + Cl, = $0,Cl, in presence of a catalyst such as FeCl. It isa colorless liquid fuming in moist air and is used for chlorinating organic compounds. It is readily hydrolyzed by water. 19-5 Oxides and Oxo Acids ‘The dioxides are obtained by burning the elements in air. Sulfur dioxide is produced when many sulfides are heated in air. Selenium and tellurium dioxides are also obtained by treating the metals with hot nitric acid to form HySeO, and 2TeO;"HNOs, respectively, and then heating these to drive off water or nitric acid ‘Sulfa dioxide is a gas with a pungent smell. The molecule is angular. Liquid SO, dissolves many organic and inorganic substances and is used as a solvent for mr studies as well as in preparative reactions. The liquid does not undergo self- ionization and its conductivity is mainly a reflection of the purity. * Sulfur dioxide has lone pairs and can act as 2 Lewis base. Hoivever, it also ) 38 acts as a Lewis acid giving complexes, for example, with amines as in MesNSO3 and with electron-rich transition metal complexes. In the crystalline com- pound SbF; “SO,, which is of interest because of the use of SO, as a solvent for, Superacd systems (page 177, the $0, is bound asin (1-IDThe bondi316 {we cnour vin ELEMENTS: SULFUR, SELEMIUM, TELLUTIUM AND POLONIUSS (19-1V), differs in that the $ atom is bound to the metal. Metel-sulfur bonding appears to be general in transition-metal species. Sulfur dioxide also undergoes “insertion” reactions (Chapter 30) with metal-carbon bonds, for example, RCH,HgOAc + $0, ——+ RCH,SO;Hg0Ac (CHy).Sn +50, —+ (CHy\S0S0,CH, sy owe ii | ~ Dad | ea |r oc” / \™ Phy E PhP Cl am av SO, is quite soluble in water; such solutions, which possess acidic properties, hhave Tong been referred to as solutions of sulfurous acid, HSO,. However, H3SO; is cither not present or present only in infinitesimal quantities in such solutions. The so-called hydrate, H,SO,-~6H,0, is the gas hydrate (ection 9-5, $0; ~7H,0. The equilibria in aqueous solutions of SO, are best represented as SO, ++ xH,O = SOg'xH;0 (hydrated SO.) [S0,:xH,O=H,80, K€ 1) SO," xH,0 = HSO, (aq) + HsO* + (x ~ 2)H,0 and the first acid dissociation constant for “sulfurous acid” is properly defined as follows: (HS0,"1(H")] i= pial Although sulfurous acid does not exist, two series of salts, the bislftes, containing HSO;~, and the suffices, containing SO,?~, are well known. The SO,2~ ion in crystals is pyramidal. Only the water-soluble alkali sulfites and bisulfites are commonly encountered. Heating solid bisulfites or passing SO, into their aqueous solutions affords pyrosulites: Heat 2MHSO, M,S,0, + H,0 HSO, (aq) + SO; = HS;05"(aq) . ” Whereas pyro acids, for example, pyrosulfuric, H,S,0,,-(page 174) usuaily have oxygen bridges, the pyrosulfte ion has an unsymmetrical structure, O.S—SO, Some important reactions of suifites are shown in Fig. 19-1. “onding lergoes verties, 42803 tions. 9-5), vted as efined dfites, . The ‘sand fords have “$05. 19-5 Oxides and Oxo Acids 317 $0; + NaxCOs(aq) —%+ NaHSOs(aq) $22". Na,S,05 Naow 50, ee SOCI, +222 Na,s05(aq) . 2 we *50; se mets eee ere s1Oaeat ch $,0;7- 80.7> Figure 19-1 Some reactions of sulfites. Solutions of SO, and of sulfites possess reducing properties and are often used as reducing agents: SO?” + 4H* + (x —2)H,0 + 2¢ = SO, +xH,0 B=oi1v S02" + H,O +2¢=$0,? +20H- B= -093 Sulfur trioxide is obtained by reaction of SO with O,, a reaction that is thermodynamically very favorable but extremely slow in the absence ofa catalyst such as platinum sponge, V30s, or NO. SO, reacts vigorously with water to form sulfuric acid, Industrially, SO, is absorbed in concentrated H,SO, to give oleum (page 174), whichis then diluted. SO, is used as such for preparing sulfonated oils and alkyl arenesulfonate detergents. It is also a powerful but generally indiscrimi- nate oxidizing agent. ‘The SO3 molecule, in the gas phase, has a planar, triangular structure in- | volving both pa—px and pr—dz, SO bonding. It forms polymers in the solid | state, Sulfuric Acid. ‘This has been discussed on page 174. Selenic and Telluric Acids. Selenic acid is similar to HySO,, including the isomorphism of the hydrates and salts. It differs in being less stable, evol oxygen about 200", and being a strong but usually not kinetically fast oxidizing agent, ScO.?" +4H* +2e— HySeO,+H,0 BS 1IS¥ Telluric acid, obtained by oxidation of Te or TeO, with HO, or other powerful,* oxidants, is very diferent in structure, being Te(OH), in the crystal, It is a very weak dibasic acid, K, ~ 107, and is also an oxidant. Most tellurates contain TeO, octahedra as in K[TeO(OH),] or Hg,TeOg.