O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Ignites in air above 261 deg C, in oxygen below 260 deg C, burning to the dioxide; combines readily with hydrogen; combines in the cold with fluorine, chlorine, and bromine; combines with carbon at high temperatures; reacts with silicon, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth at their melting points; combines with nearly all metals; with lithium, sodium, potassium, copper, mercury and silver in the cold on contact with the solid; with magnesium, zinc and cadmium very slightly in the cold, more readily on heating; with other metals at high temperatures. Does not react with iodine, nitrogen, tellurium, gold, platinum and iridium.
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Amber-colored crystals. The stable at ordinary temperature, density: 2.06; when heated to 94.5 deg C becomes opaque owing to formation of monoclinic sulfur /alpha-Sulfur/
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Opaque, light- yellow, brittle, needle-like crystals; stable between 94.5 oto 120 deg C. Passes slowly into the rhombic form on standing; density 1.96; mp 115.21 deg C /beta-Sulfur/
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
MP: 106.8 deg C /gamma-Sulfur/
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Mol wt approx 200,000; insoluble in solvents used for orthorhombic form; amorphous form; metastable, gradually reverts to alpha-form /Polymeric sulfur/
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Sublimed and washed sulfur are in form of fine, yellow crystalline powder /Sulfur, pharmaceutical/
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1540.
Liquid-water interfacial tension: (est) 50 dynes/cm = 0.05 N/m at 127 deg C; ratio of specific heats of vapor (gas): 1.582 (est)
U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation. CHRIS - Hazardous Chemical Data. Volume II. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984-5.
Heat of Fusion: rhombic (alpha): 62.25 J/g at 112.6 deg C; monoclinic (beta): 43.54 J/g at 119.0 deg C
Nehb W, Vydra K; Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. 7th ed. (1999-2011). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; Sulfur. Online Posting Date: 15 Dec 2006.
Occurs in ... various molecular aggregations /allotropes/ which differ in solubility, specific gravity, crystalline form, etc. ... Sulfur also exhibits dynamic allotropy, ie, the various allotropes exist together in equilibrium in definite proportions, depending on the temperature and pressure. Sulfur crystalizes in at least two distinct systems: the rhombic and monoclinic forms. Rhombic sulfur is stable at atmospheric pressures up to 95.5 deg C ... Monoclinic sulfur is then stable up to its natural melting point of 114.5 deg C
Staff; Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. (1999-2011). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; Sulfur. Online Posting Date: 14 Jul 2006.
When the liquid phase consists solely of octatomic sulfur rings, the temperature ranges at which the various modifications form are called the ideal freezing points. The temperature at which the crystalline forms are in equilibrium with liquid sulfur containing equilibrium amounts of S(pie) and S(mu) are called natural freezing points
Staff; Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. (1999-2011). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; Sulfur. Online Posting Date: 14 Jul 2006.
At room temp the thermodynamic stable sulfur modification is orthorhombic sulfur that converts at 94 deg C to monoclinic sulfur. The latter melts at 124-128 deg C forming a mixture of liquid allotropes that includes cyclooctasulfur, cyclododecasulfur, as well as chain species.
Seiler, H.G., H. Sigel and A. Sigel (eds.). Handbook on the Toxicity of Inorganic Compounds. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1988. 640.
Sol in light petroleum and turpentine oil, and in hot aq soln of alkali hydroxides forming polysulfides and thiosulfates; Solubility: 1 in 60 chloroform, 1 in 600 ether /Precipitated sulfur/
Reynolds, J.E.F., Prasad, A.B. (eds.) Martindale-The Extra Pharmacopoeia. 28th ed. London: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1982. 504.
Very slightly sol in water and alc; incompletely soluble in carbon disulfide; soluble in chloroform, ether, light petroleum, toluene, and fixed and volatile oils /Sublimed sulfur/
Reynolds, J.E.F., Prasad, A.B. (eds.) Martindale-The Extra Pharmacopoeia. 28th ed. London: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1982. 504.
Liquid heat capacity = 0.230 BTU/lb deg F at 260 deg F
U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation. CHRIS - Hazardous Chemical Data. Volume II. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984-5.
Ideal gas heat capacity = 0.021 BTU/lb deg F at 90 deg F
U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation. CHRIS - Hazardous Chemical Data. Volume II. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984-5.
O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006. 1539.
Research tool in studying mechanism of rubber vulcanization and polymerization of synthetic rubber, role of sulfur in the coking process and in steel, effect of sulfur on engine wear, sulfur removal in the viscose process, behaviour of detergents during ashing, sulfur deposition in diesel engines, action of sulfur in silver plating solutions, protein metabolism, surface active agents and surface phenomena, drug actions, etc. /Sulfur-35/
Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007. 1192.
Sulfur Decay Pathways
Natural Isotopes
Isotope
Relative % Abundance
Half-life
Sulfur-32
95.02
Stable
Sulfur-33
0.75
Stable
Sulfur-34
4.21
Stable
Sulfur-36
0.02
Stable
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Nuclear Data Evaluation Lab. 2000. Nuclide Table. Available from, as of Jul 7, 2011: <http://atom.kaeri.re.kr/ton/>.
Sulfur Decay Pathways
Artificial Isotopes
Isotope
Half-life
Mode of Decay
Decay Energy (MeV)
Sulfur-26
Unknown
Sulfur-27
Unknown
electron capture to P-27
18.260
Sulfur-28
125 milli seconds
electron capture to P-28; electron capture + proton to Si-27
11.230; 9.170
Sulfur-29
197 milli seconds
electron capture to P-29
13.790
Sulfur-30
1.178 seconds
electron capture to P-30
6.138
Sulfur-31
2.572 seconds
electron capture to P-31
5.396
Sulfur-35
87.51 days
beta to Cl-35
0.167
Sulfur-37
5.05 minutes
beta to Cl-37
4.865
Sulfur-38
170.3 minutes
beta to Cl-38
2.937
Sulfur-39
11.5 seconds
beta to CL-39
6.640
Sulfur-40
8.8 seconds
beta to CL-40
4.710
Sulfur-41
2.6 seconds
beta to Cl-41
0.880
Sulfur-42
0.56 seconds
beta to Cl-42; beta + neutron to Cl-41
7.770; 2.000
Sulfur-43
220 milli seconds
beta to Cl-43; beta + neutron to CL-42
11.500; 4.400
Sulfur-44
123 milli seconds
beta to CL-44; beta + neutron to CL43
9.100; 5.100
Sulfur-45
82 milli seconds
beta to Cl-45; beta + neutron to CL-44
14.100; 7.100
Sulfur-46
>200 nano seconds
Sulfur-47
>200 nano seconds
Sulfur-48
>200 nano seconds
Sulfur-49
<200 nano seconds
neutron emission to S-48
0.300
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Nuclear Data Evaluation Lab. 2000. Nuclide Table. Available from, as of Jul 7, 2011: <http://atom.kaeri.re.kr/ton/>.
