SOLUBILIZATION OF SULFUR IN AMMONIA AND EQUILIBRIUM COMPOSITION OF SULFUR AMMONIA SOLUTIONS

Sulfur ammonia solutions (SAS) were separated by anion exchange HPLC into the anions S4N- and S3N-, S-3 (and its dimer S26-), and SxNH2- (sulfur in oxidized, in reduced and in neutral form resp.). The analysis of the absorption spectra of SAS yields the concentrations of the individual components and leads to the assignement x = 4 in SxNH2-. The time dependence of the HPLC chromatograms and of the optical spectra of freshly prepared SAS reveals that S4NH-2 is the primary species in the dissolution process which partly disproportionates to S4N- and S3- and to S3N- as another intermediate. © 1991, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.