ABSTRACT
MeHgSMe or C2H6SHg, methyl(methylthio)mercury. This compound melts at 24°C-25°C (Nyquist and Mann 1972, Bach and Weibel 1976). To obtain this compound, chloromethylmercury (2.5 g) was dissolved in absolute EtOH, and an equivalent amount of NaOH (2 mL of a 2 N solution) was added with stirring (Nyquist and Mann 1972). The solution was heated to the boiling point (~78°C), allowed to cool to room temperature, and nally cooled in an ice bath. The cold solution was rapidly ltered to remove the precipitated NaCl. The ltered solution was maintained at 0°C until a slight excess of methanethiol was added with stirring. The reaction mixture was allowed to come to room temperature at which it remained for several hours. As water was slowly added to the methanol, turbidity was obtained, and upon cooling, C2H6SHg precipitated from solution. This was ltered using an ice-cooled, sintered glass funnel. The precipitate was recrystallized from an MeOH-H2O solvent giving large white platelets.
