Disulfur is the diatomic molecule consisting of two sulfur atoms with the formula S2. It is analogous to the dioxygen molecule but rarely occurs at room temperature. This violet gas is the dominant species in hot sulfur vapors. S2 is one of the minor components of the atmosphere of Io, which is predominantly composed of SO2. The instability of S2 is usually described in the context of the double bond rule.
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Disulfur in the context of Homonuclear
In chemistry, homonuclear molecules, or elemental molecules, or homonuclear species, are molecules composed of only one element. Homonuclear molecules may consist of various numbers of atoms. The size of the molecule an element can form depends on the element's properties, and some elements form molecules of more than one size. The most familiar homonuclear molecules are diatomic molecules, which consist of two atoms, although not all diatomic molecules are homonuclear. Homonuclear diatomic molecules include hydrogen (H2), oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2) and all of the halogens. Ozone (O3) is a common triatomic homonuclear molecule. Homonuclear tetratomic molecules include arsenic (As4) and phosphorus (P4).
Allotropes are different chemical forms of the same element (not containing any other element). In that sense, allotropes are all homonuclear. Many elements have multiple allotropic forms. In addition to the most common form of gaseous oxygen, O2, and ozone, there are other allotropes of oxygen. Sulfur forms several allotropes containing different numbers of sulfur atoms, including diatomic, triatomic, hexatomic and octatomic (S2, S3, S6, S8) forms, though the first three are rare. The element carbon is known to have a number of homonuclear molecules, including diamond and graphite.