Carbon disulfide

In 1796, the German chemist Wilhelm August Lampadius (1772–1842) first prepared carbon disulfide by heating pyrite with moist charcoal. He called it "liquid sulfur" (flüssig Schwefel). The composition of carbon disulfide was finally determined in 1813 by the team of the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) and the Swiss-British chemist Alexander Marcet (1770–1822). Their analysis was consistent with an empirical formula of CS2. ==Occurrence, manufacture, properties==

Small amounts of carbon disulfide are released by volcanic eruptions and marshes. CS2 once was manufactured by combining carbon (or coke) and sulfur at 800–1000 °C. :C + 2S → CS2 A lower-temperature reaction, requiring only 600 °C, utilizes natural gas as the carbon source in the presence of silica gel or alumina catalysts: United States production in 2007 was 56,000 tonnes. Solvent Carbon disulfide can dissolve a variety of nonpolar chemicals including phosphorus, sulfur, selenium, bromine, iodine, fats, resins, rubber, and asphalt. Extraterrestrial In March 2024, possible traces of CS2 were detected in the atmosphere of the temperate mini-Neptune planet TOI-270 d by the James Webb Space Telescope. ==Reactions==

Combustion of CS2 affords sulfur dioxide according to this ideal stoichiometry: :CS2 + 3O2 → CO2 + 2SO2 With nucleophiles Compared to the isoelectronic carbon dioxide, CS2 is a weaker electrophile. While, however, reactions of nucleophiles with CO2 are highly reversible and products are only isolated with very strong nucleophiles, the reactions with CS2 are thermodynamically more favored allowing the formation of products with less reactive nucleophiles. For example, amines afford dithiocarbamates: :2R2NH + CS2 → [R2NH2+][R2NCS2−] Xanthates form similarly from alkoxides: : 4Na + 4CS2 → Na2C3S5 + Na2CS3 Chlorination Chlorination of CS2 provides a route to carbon tetrachloride: ==Polymerization==

CS2 polymerizes upon photolysis or under high pressure to give an insoluble material called car-sul or "Bridgman's black", named after the discoverer of the polymer, Percy Williams Bridgman. Trithiocarbonate (-S-C(S)-S-) linkages comprise, in part, the backbone of the polymer, which is a semiconductor. ==Uses==

The principal industrial uses of carbon disulfide, consuming 75% of the annual production in 2000, are the manufacture of viscose rayon and cellophane film. Carbon disulfide is also used as an insecticide for the fumigation of grains, nursery stock, in fresh fruit conservation, and as a soil disinfectant against insects and nematodes. It can also be used for the Barking dog reaction. ==Health effects==

Carbon disulfide has been linked to both acute and chronic forms of poisoning, with a diverse range of symptoms. Concentrations of 500–3000 mg/m3 cause acute and subacute poisoning. These include a set of mostly neurological and psychiatric symptoms, called encephalopathia sulfocarbonica. Symptoms include acute psychosis (manic delirium, hallucinations), paranoic ideas, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal and sexual disorders, polyneuritis, myopathy, and mood changes (including irritability and anger). Effects observed at lower concentrations include neurological problems (encephalopathy, psychomotor and psychological disturbances, polyneuritis, abnormalities in nerve conduction), hearing problems, vision problems (burning eyes, abnormal light reactions, increased ophthalmic pressure), heart problems (increased deaths for heart disease, angina pectoris, high blood pressure), reproductive problems (increased miscarriages, immobile or deformed sperm), and decreased immune response. Occupational exposure to carbon disulfide is also associated with cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) considered that health harms were unlikely at levels below 100 μg/m3 over an averaging time of 24 hours, and recommended this as a guideline level. Carbon disulfide can be smelled at levels above 200 μg/m3, and the WHO recommended a sensory guideline of below 20 μg/m3. Exposure to carbon disulfide is well-established to be harmful to health in concentrations at or above 30 mg/m3. Changes in the function of the central nervous system have been observed at concentrations of 20–25 mg/m3. There are also reports of harms to health at 10 mg/m3, for exposures of 10–15 years, but the lack of good data on past exposure levels make the association of these harms with concentrations of 10 mg/m3 findings uncertain. The measured concentration of 10 mg/m3 may be equivalent to a concentration in the general environment of 1 mg/m3. carbon black, and sulfur recovery. Carbon disulfide production also emits hydrogen sulfide. Carbon black production in Japan and Korea uses incinerators to destroy about 99% of the carbon disulfide that would otherwise be emitted. One exception is rayon made using the lyocell process, which uses a different solvent; the lyocell process is not widely used, because it is more expensive than the viscose process. Cuprammonium rayon also does not use carbon disulfide. Incidence of exposure Industrial workers working with carbon disulfide are at high risk. Emissions may also harm the health of people living near rayon plants. Around 1900, carbon disulfide came to be widely used in the production of vulcanized rubber. The psychosis produced by high exposures was soon apparent (it has been reported with 6 months of exposure Courtaulds, a major rayon manufacturer, worked hard to prevent publication of this data in the UK. Manufacturers using the viscose process do not provide any information on harm to their workers. ==See also==