Gold(I) sulfide

Gold(I) sulfide
IUPAC name

Gold(I) sulfide
Identifiers
CAS number 1303-60-2
Properties
Molecular formula Au2S
Molar mass 426.00 g/mol
Solubility in water Insoluble
Related compounds
Other anions Copper(I) sulfide
 Y (verify) (what is: Y/N?)
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Gold(I) sulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula Au2S. It is one of two principal sulfides of gold. Gold sulfides exist in nature as solid solutions with silver, which has the same covalent radius.

Structure and preparation

The compound crystallizes in the motif seen for cuprous oxide: gold is 2-coordinate, sulfur four coordinate, and the S-Au-S linkage is linear.[1] Linear coordination geometry is typically adopted by gold(I) compounds, such as the coordination complex chloro(dimethyl sulfide)gold(I).

It can be prepared by treating gold chloride with hydrogen sulfide[2] It also arises by treating dicyanoaurate:

H2S + 2 KAu(CN)2 → Au2S + 2 KCN + 2 HCN

This product is described as "initially dark reddish-brown" solid that turns "steel-gray.”[3]

References

  1. ^ Wells, A.F. (1984) Structural Inorganic Chemistry, Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-855370-6.
  2. ^ N. N. Greenwood, A. Earnshaw, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK, 1997.
  3. ^ Marjorie O. Faltens and D. A. Shirley “Moessbauer spectroscopy of gold compounds” Journal of Chemical Physics (1970, volume 53, (11), 4249-64. doi:10.1063/1.1673931