Rational syntheses and structural characterization of sulfur-rich phosphorus polysulfides: α-P2S7 and β-P2S7

Sulfides are the sulfur analog of ethers, just as thiols are the sulfur analog of alcohol. Like ethers, sulfides also consist of two hydrocarbon groups bonded to the central sulfur atom. Depending upon the type of groups present, sulfides can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical sulfides can be prepared via an SN2 reaction between 2 equivalents of an alkyl halide and one equivalent of sodium sulfide.

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

sp3d and sp3d 2 Hybridization

Thiols and sulfides are sulfur analogs of alcohols and ethers, respectively, where the sulfur atom takes the place of the oxygen atom. Thus, thiols are generally represented as RSH, where R is an alkyl substituent and —SH is the functional group. On the other hand, in sulfides, the central sulfur atom is bonded to two hydrocarbon groups on either side. Depending upon the type of group, sulfides can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Both thiols and sulfides display a bent geometry, similar...

VSEPR Theory for Determination of Electron Pair Geometries

The mathematical expression known as the wave function, ψ, contains information about each orbital and the wavelike properties of electrons in an isolated atom. When atoms are bound together in a molecule, the wave functions combine to produce new mathematical descriptions that have different shapes. This process of combining the wave functions for atomic orbitals is called hybridization and is mathematically accomplished by the linear combination of atomic orbitals. The new orbitals that...