WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements | Mercury

Mercury compounds: mercury sulphide

The mercury in mercury sulphide formally is in the oxidation state 2.

Mercury sulphide

Formula as often written: HgS
Hill system formula: Hg₁S₁
CAS registry number: [1344-48-5]
Formula weight: 232.656
Class: sulphide

Synonyms

mercury sulphide
mercury(II) sulphide
cinnabar
mercuric sulfide
mercuric sulphide
mercury sulfide
mercury(II) sulfide

Physical properties

Colour: scarlet red (high temperature form black)
Appearance: crystalline solid
Melting point: 344°C (red to black form)
Boiling point: 580°C
Density: 8170 kg m^-3

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Element analysis

Element percentages for the elements in mercury sulphide
Element	%
Hg	86.22
S	13.78

Synthesis

Hg(O₂CMe)₂ + H₂S → HgS� + 2MeCO₂H

Red mercury(II) sulphide (cinnabar or vermilion, density 7500 kg m^-3) can be made by the reaction of mercury(II) acetate, Hg(O₂CMe)₂, with hydrogen sulphide in the presence of exces ammonium thiocyanate, NH₄NCS. Mercury(II) chloride can be used in place of the acetate but the colour of the product is siad to be less brilliant. The yield is nearly quantitative.

Solid state structure

Geometry of mercury: 2 coordinate: linear
Prototypical structure:

Crystal structure of mercury sulphide

Isotope pattern

What follows is the calculated isotope pattern for the HgS unit with the most intense ion set to 100%.

Formula: Hg₁S₁

mass  %
228   0.5 
229   0.0 
230  32.2 ________________
231  54.7 ___________________________
232  76.4 ______________________________________
233  45.5 _______________________
234 100.0 __________________________________________________
235   2.7 _
236  26.5 _____________
237   0.2 
238   1.0 
239   0.0 
240   0.0

References

The data on these compounds pages are assembled and adapted from the primary literature and several other sources including the following.

R.T. Sanderson in Chemical Periodicity, Reinhold, New York, USA, 1960.
N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.
F.A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C.A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann, in Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
A.F. Trotman-Dickenson, (ed.) in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1973.
R.W.G. Wyckoff, in Crystal Structures, volume 1, Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, 1963.
A.R.West in Basic solid state chemistry Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
A.F. Wells in Structural inorganic chemistry, 4th edition, Oxford, UK, 1975.
J.D.H. Donnay, (ed.) in Crystal data determinative tables, ACA monograph number 5, American Crystallographic Association, USA, 1963.
D.R. Lide, (ed.) in Chemical Rubber Company handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 77th edition, 1996.
J.W. Mellor in A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry, volumes 1-16, Longmans, London, UK, 1922-1937.
J.E. Macintyre (ed.) in Dictionary of inorganic compounds, volumes 1-3, Chapman & Hall, London, UK, 1992.