The tetrathionate

anion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

, , is a

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

oxoanion An oxyanion, or oxoanion, is an ion with the generic formula (where A represents a chemical element and O represents an oxygen atom). Oxyanions are formed by a large majority of the chemical elements. The formulae of simple oxyanions are determine ...

derived from the compound

tetrathionic acid The tetrathionate anion, , is a sulfur oxoanion derived from the compound tetrathionic acid, H2S4O6. Two of the sulfur atoms present in the ion are in oxidation state 0 and two are in oxidation state +5. Alternatively, the compound can be viewe ...

, H₂S₄O₆. Two of the sulfur

atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

s present in the ion are in

oxidation state In chemistry, the oxidation state, or oxidation number, is the hypothetical charge of an atom if all of its bonds to different atoms were fully ionic. It describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound. C ...

0 and two are in oxidation state +5. Alternatively, the compound can be viewed as the

adduct An adduct (from the Latin ''adductus'', "drawn toward" alternatively, a contraction of "addition product") is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all co ...

resulting from the binding of to SO₃. Tetrathionate is one of the polythionates, a family of anions with the formula _''n''(SO₃)₂sup>2−. Its IUPAC name is ''2-(dithioperoxy)disulfate'', and the name of its corresponding acid is ''2-(dithioperoxy)disulfuric acid''. The Chemical Abstracts Service identifies tetrathionate by the CAS Number 15536-54-6.

Formation

Tetrathionate is a product of the

oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...

thiosulfate Thiosulfate ( IUPAC-recommended spelling; sometimes thiosulphate in British English) is an oxyanion of sulfur with the chemical formula . Thiosulfate also refers to the compounds containing this anion, which are the salts of thiosulfuric acid, ...

, , by

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

, I₂: :2 + I₂ → + 2 I⁻

Structure

Tetrathionate's structure can be visualized by following three edges of a

rectangular cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron, a six-faced solid. Its faces are quadrilaterals. Cuboid means "like a cube", in the sense that by adjusting the length of the edges or the angles between edges and faces a cuboid can be transformed into a cub ...

, as in the diagram below. The structure shown is the configuration of in BaS₄O₆·2H₂O and Na₂S₄O₆·2H₂O. Dihedral S–S–S–S angles approaching 90° are common in

polysulfide Polysulfides are a class of chemical compounds containing chains of sulfur atoms. There are two main classes of polysulfides: inorganic and organic. Among the inorganic polysulfides, there are ones which contain anions, which have the general formu ...

Compounds

Compounds containing the tetrathionate anion include

sodium tetrathionate Sodium tetrathionate is a salt of sodium and tetrathionate with the formula Na2S4O6.H2O. The salt normally is obtained as the dihydrate ( = 2). It is a colorless, water-soluble solid. It is a member of the polythionates, which have the general fo ...

, Na₂S₄O₆, potassium tetrathionate, K₂S₄O₆, and

barium tetrathionate Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Th ...

dihydrate In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understo ...

, BaS₄O₆·2H₂O.

Properties

As other species of sulfur at intermediate

, such as thiosulfate, tetrathionate can be responsible for the

pitting corrosion Pitting corrosion, or pitting, is a form of extremely localized corrosion that leads to the random creation of small holes in metal. The driving power for pitting corrosion is the depassivation of a small area, which becomes anodic (oxidation re ...

carbon steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

and

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

. Tetrathionate has also been found to serve as a terminal electron acceptor for ''

Salmonella enterica ''Salmonella enterica'' (formerly ''Salmonella choleraesuis'') is a rod-headed, flagellate, facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium and a species of the genus ''Salmonella''. A number of its serovars are serious human pathogens. Epidemi ...

'' serotype Typhimurium, whereas existing

in the

small intestine The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the p ...

s of mammals is oxidized by reactive oxygen species released by the immune system (mainly

NADPH oxidase NADPH oxidase (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase) is a membrane-bound enzyme complex that faces the extracellular space. It can be found in the plasma membrane as well as in the membranes of phagosomes used by neutrophil white ...

produced

superoxide In chemistry, a superoxide is a compound that contains the superoxide ion, which has the chemical formula . The systematic name of the anion is dioxide(1−). The reactive oxygen ion superoxide is particularly important as the product of the ...

) to form tetrathionate. This aids in the growth of the bacterium, helped by the inflammatory response.Winter, Sebastian E. "Gut Inflammation Provides a Respiratory Electron Acceptor for Salmonella." ''Nature'', 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

References

* Corrosion Sulfur oxyanions {{corrosion-stub

Formation

Structure

Compounds

Properties

See also

References