Carbon monosulfide is a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

with the

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

CS. This diatomic molecule is the sulfur analogue of

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

, and is unstable as a solid or a liquid, but it has been observed as a gas both in the laboratory and in the interstellar medium. The molecule resembles carbon monoxide with a triple bond between carbon and sulfur. The molecule is not intrinsically unstable, but it tends to polymerize in sunlight to a brown mass, as first discovered in 1868 and 1872. The polymer is quite stable, decomposing a little at 360 °C to carbon disulfide. This tendency towards polymerization reflects the greater stability of C–S single bonds.

Polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

s with the formula (CS)_''n'' have been reported, and the formal dimer is ethenedithione. Also, CS has been observed as a ligand in some transition metal complexes. The simplest carbon monosulfide synthesis decomposes carbon disulfide in a high-voltage AC arc.Moltzen, Ejner K.; Klabunde, Kenneth J.; and Senning, Alexander (1988). "Carbon monosulfide", from '' Chemical Reviews'', vol. 88 issue 2, pp. 391-406. .

References

{{Molecules detected in outer space Inorganic carbon compounds Monosulfides