Topic summary
Thiolate
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Thiol.
Metal ion complexation
With metal ions, thiolates behave as ligands to form transition metal thiolate complexes. The term mercaptan is derived from the Latinmercurium captans (capturing mercury) because the thiolate group bonds so strongly with mercury compounds. According to hard/soft acid/base (HSAB) theory, sulfur is a relatively soft (polarizable) atom. This explains the tendency of thiols to bind to soft elements and ions such as mercury, lead, or cadmium. The stability of metal thiolates parallels that of the corresponding sulfide minerals. Sodium aurothiolate is an antiarthritic drug.