What is Sodium Thiosulfate?
Sodium thiosulfate is a highly important inorganic compound and it is suitable for plenty medical uses. The other name for the compound is sodium hyposulfite. The chemical formula for the compound would be Na2S2O3 and a molecular weight of 158.11 g/mol approximately. If available as the pentahydrate state then its molecular weight will become 248.18 g/mol.
Sodium Thiosulfate Structure
The chemical structure of the chemical compound is given below.
Sodium Thiosulfate Chemical Formula
This is an ionic compound where two sodium cations and the negatively charged thiosulfate anion (S2O3-), will combine together to form the product. The central sulfur atom is connected to three oxygen atoms and one more sulfur atom with single or double bods with resonance character. It exists in monoclinic crystal structure and prepared by heating sulfur in aqueous solution and sodium hydroxide too.
6 NaOH + 4 S → Na2S2O3 + 2 Na2S + 3 H2OThis is a white crystalline solid that is highly soluble in water and odourless too. It could be defined as the neutral salt when dissolved in water will give sodium and thiosulfate ions. Under stable conditions, it decomposes to give sodium sulfate and sodium polysulfide.
About Sodium Thiosulfate
The product is used for several pharmaceutical preparations and it has a plenty of medical properties too. This can be defined as the antidote for treating cyanide poisoning. Apart from the medical benefits, it is suitable for water treatment, neutralizing bleach, gold extraction, chemical heating pads and more. As it is used for medical purposes, so it is not toxic but when it is decomposed then releasing harmful oxide fumes and causes irritation to eyes or skin as well.