Mercaptans by hydrogen sulfide-cleavage of organic sulfides in presence of carbon disulfide

In a process for preparing mercaptans by catalytic cleavage of organic sulfides with hydrogen sulfide in the presence of sulfactive catalysts a method is provided for increasing the total conversion of reactants to mercaptans by including carbon disulfide in the reaction mixture. In a preferred embodiment carbon disulfide is present in the reaction mixture of hydrogen sulfide and organic sulfides in an amount in the molar ratio of about 0.1/1 to about 50/1 organic sulfide to carbon disulfide.