What are s-s bonds?

1 Answer
Feb 18, 2016

Presumably you mean a sulfur-sulfur bond?

Explanation:

Peroxide bonds, OO, 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. S8, and drop some in water. As you probably know, sulfur is practically insoluble in water. Add a bit of sulfide salt, say Na2S. The sulfur will go up magically. Why?

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

S8(s)+S2SSSSSSSSS

The chain length can vary.