Carbonyl Sulfide

Alternative name: carbon oxysulfide, carbonyl sulfide

English Name: carbonyl sulfide

Chemical formula: COS

Molecular weight: 60.075

CAS login No.: 463-58-1

Appearance: colorless gas

Brief introduction of carbonyl sulfur gas

Carbonyl sulfur (chemical formula: COS), also known as carbon oxysulfide and carbonyl sulfide, is usually a colorless gas with rotten egg odor. It is an organic substance similar to carbon disulfide and carbon dioxide in structure. The gaseous cos molecule is linear, and one carbon atom is connected with oxygen atom and sulfur atom by two double bonds. Carbonyl sulfur is stable, but it will react strongly with oxidants. In the presence of water, it will also corrode metals. Flammable. It is toxic, but like hydrogen sulfide, it makes people underestimate its concentration in the air.

Existence and application of carbonyl sulfur

Carbonyl sulfur in the air is a part of the global sulfur cycle: both volcanic eruptions and deep-sea hydrothermal vents produce carbonyl sulfur, and carbonyl sulfur also exists in the atmosphere at a concentration of 0.5 (± 0.05) ppb. Carbonyl sulfur is also one of the main sulfur-containing impurities in syngas. Carbonyl sulfur in the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric acid in the stratosphere.

Carbonyl sulfur was also detected in the interstellar medium.

Cheese and cabbage also produce small amounts of carbonyl sulfur. The content of carbonyl sulfur in grain and seeds is generally between 0.05-0.1 mg/kg.

Carbonyl sulfur can be used as fumigant instead of methyl bromide and phosphine. In organic synthesis, it is used for the synthesis of thioacids, substituted thiazoles, insecticide Bataan, herbicide oat enemy, herbicide salbutamol, etc. Calibration gas and standard gas used for on-line instruments in petrochemical industry.

Because volcanoes spread all over the earth's surface in the early days, volcanic eruptions were very frequent, so carbonyl sulfur was also considered to be one of the components in the early Earth's atmosphere. In recent studies, Scripps and Salk Institute researchers respectively introduced carbonyl sulfur into aqueous solutions containing amino acids in the presence or absence of air and other substances (such as metal ions) to make them react under mild conditions, and then analyzed the products after several minutes of intense reaction. It was found that dipeptide, tripeptide and tetrapeptide with very high yield were produced in each environment. This shows that carbonyl sulfur has a catalytic effect on the condensation of amino acids to form polypeptides, which to some extent explains how the amino acids produced in Miller ulley experiment condense, and adds an important link to the theory of origin of life.