Raman spectrophotometric studies of the dissociation of methylmercuric salts in concentrated aqueous solution. Part 2.—Dissociations of methylmercuric methanesulphonate and methylmercuric sulphate

Abstract

The degrees of dissociation of methylmercuric methanesulphonate in aqueous solution at 25°C have been determined from integrated intensity measurements on the 1051 Δ cm–1 Raman band characteristic of methanesulphonate ions. In accordance with expectation, the values obtained are close to those for methanesulphonic acid. The Raman spectra of aqueous solutions of methylmercuric sulphate, up to 0.8 M, show the presence of the equilibrium CH3HgSO–4+ H2O = CH3HgOH+2+ SO2–4 with no detectable amount of (CH3Hg)2SO4 molecules present. The degrees of dissociation of CH3HgSO–4 at 25 °C were determined approximately from integrated intensity measurements on the 982 Δ cm–1 Raman band of sulphate ions. The values obtained are close to those for the HSO–4 ion.