Carbon disulfide
Carbon disulfide is a colorless volatile liquid with the formula CS2. The compound is used frequently as a building block in organic chemistry as well as an industrial and chemical non-polar solvent. It has an "ether-like" odor, but commercial samples are typically contaminated with foul-smelling impurities, such as carbonyl sulfide.
Occurrence and manufacture
Small amounts of carbon disulfide are released by volcanic eruptions and marshes. CS2 once was manufactured by combining carbon (or coke) and sulfur at high temperatures. A lower-temperature reaction, requiring only 600 °C, utilizes natural gas as the carbon source in the presence of silica gel or alumina catalysts:
The reaction is analogous to the combustion of methane. It is isoelectronic with carbon dioxide. CS2 is highly flammable:
Global production/consumption of carbon disulfide is approximately one million tonnes, with China consuming 49%, followed by India at 13%, mostly for the production of rayon fiber.USA production in 2007 was 56,000 tonnes.
Carbon disulfide (data page)
This page provides supplementary chemical data on carbon disulfide.
Material Safety Data Sheet
The handling of this chemical may incur notable safety precautions. It is highly recommended that you seek the Material Safety Datasheet (MSDS) for this chemical from a reliable source such as SIRI, and follow its directions. MSDS available from Mallinckrodt Baker
Structure and properties
Thermodynamic properties
Vapor pressure of liquid
Table data obtained from CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 44th ed.
Distillation data
Spectral data
References
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