Silbermercaptide und -mercaptokomplexe

The complex formation of silver(I) has been studied with the anions of simple mercaptans RSH which have been rendered soluble by replacing some H in the substituent R by OH. All equilibria constants refer to a solvent of ionic strength μ = 0,1 and 20°C. Monothioglycol HO? CH₂? CH₂? SH (pK = 9.48) forms an amorphous insoluble mercaptide {AgSR} (s), ionic product Ag⁺] SR^?] = 10^?19.7. The solution in equilibrium with the solid contains the molecule AgSR at a constant concentration of 10^?6.7 M which furnishes the formation constant of the 1:1-complex: K₁ = 10^{13. 0}. The solid is soluble in excess of mercaptide (AgSR+SR^? → Ag(SR)₂^?: K₂ = 10^{4. 8}) as well as in an excess of silver ion (AgSR + Ag⁺ → Ag₂SR⁺K ≈? 10⁶). With the bulky monothiopentaerythrite (HO? CH₂? )₃C? CH₂? SH (pK = 9.89) no precipitation occurs with silver when the mercaptan concentration is below 10^{?3. 2}M. A single polynuclear Ag₁₀(SR)₉⁺ (β_10.9 = 10¹⁷⁵) is formed in acidic solutions which breaks up with the formation of Ag₂SR⁺ (β_2.1 = 10^19.0) when an excess of silver ion is added. Below the mononuclear wall (RS]_total < 10^?6) Ag₂SR⁺ is formed via the mononuclear AgSR (K₁ = 10¹³). At higher mercaptan concentrations (RS]_tot > 10^?3.2) an amorphous precipitate is formed which has almost the same solubility product as silver thioglycolate (Ag⁺] SR^?] = 10^?19.1). Apparently silver(I) forms with mercaptans always the complexes Ag₂SR⁺, AgSR and Ag(SR)₂^?. Above the mononuclear wall, these species condense to chain-like polynuclears which are cations Ag(SRAg)_n⁺ in presence of an excess of Ag⁺, and anions SR (AgSR)_n^? when the concentration RS^?] is larger than Ag⁺]. Usually n becomes rapidly very large as soon as the condensation starts (n → ∞: precipitate). The decanuclear Ag(SRAg)₉⁺ formed with thiopentaerythrit is somewhat more stable than the shorter chains (n < 9) and larger chains (n > 9), because it can tangle up to a ball by coordination of bridging mercapto-sulfur to the terminal silver ions (figure 12, page 2179). This ball seems to be further stabilized by hydrogen bonds between the many alcoholic OH groups of the substituent R = (HO? CH₂)₃C? CH₂? . The stability of the bonds Ag? S, however, is little influenced by the substituent R which carries the mercaptide sulfure.