Complexation of dimethylsulfide with mercuric ion in aqueous solutions

The tendency of dimethylsulfide (DMS) to form complexes with heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions and the factors that influence it have been investigated. Among five heavy metal ions examined (Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺), only Hg²⁺ bound significantly with DMS in aqueous solutions in which Hg²⁺ concentration was increased to much higher levels than that of natural seawater. The complexation capacity of Hg²⁺ for DMS was influenced by pH and media. The affinity of Hg²⁺ for DMS was generally lower at high than at low pH, presumably due to the competition of hydroxide ion to form hydroxomercury species. In different solutions, the affinity of Hg²⁺ for DMS followed the following sequence: ultra-purified water > 35‰ NaCl solution > seawater. It seems apparent that chloride had a negative impact on the complexation of DMS by Hg²⁺, owing to the competition of chloride with DMS for complexing Hg²⁺. In addition, the affinity of Hg²⁺ for DMS in the bulk seawater appeared to be higher than that in the surface microlayer seawater. The tendency of Hg²⁺ to form complexes with DMS in aqueous solution can be reduced by the presence of 2 mM amino-acid such as glycine, alanine, serine and cysteine, as these ligands give stable mercury complexes. However, the presence of 2 mM acetate in experimental solutions had no significant effect on the complexation of Hg²⁺ with DMS, even though this ligand has a relatively strong complexing capacity for Hg²⁺. Although mercury ions appeared to have a strong affinity for DMS, the concentration of mercury in seawater is too low to produce a great effect on the distribution of DMS in oceans.