Potassium pentasulfide
Potassium pentasulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula. It is a red-orange solid that dissolves in water. The salt decomposes rapidly in air.
It is one of several polysulfide salts with the general formula, where M = Li, Na, K and n = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The polysulfide salts of potassium and sodium are similar.
Preparation and reactions
The salt is prepared by the addition of elemental sulfur to potassium sulfide. An idealized equation is shown for potassium hydrosulfide:The structure consists of zigzag chains of paired with ions.