Bis[(methyl-sulfan-yl)carbon-yl]disulfane

The title compound, C(4)H(6)O(2)S(4), was prepared by repeating, with subtle improvements, a multi-step route originally described by Mott & Barany [J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 1 (1984) ▶, pp. 2615-2621]. The title compound was obtained for the first time as a crystalline material. The two [(methyl-sulfan-yl)carbon-yl]sulfenyl moieties are essentially perpendic-ular to each other, each approximately planar (r.m.s. deviations of 0.02 and 0.01 Å) and with a C-S-S-C torsion angle = 90.99 (6)°, which compares well with the theoretical value of 90°.