Misc. (Hg-S bond stability)

Norman Watts (watts@opus.niams.nih.gov)
Tue, 16 Nov 1999 16:02:51 -0500

I am labelling viral cyteines with heavy metal clusters
and I know that the mercury-sulfur bond is very strong
(though I have seen the Hg "disappear" in ES-MS).

My question is, how likely is it that a Hg cluster, such
as tetrakis(acetoxymercuri)methane, bound to cysteine
would be displaced from the sulfur by a reagent such as
2-aminoethanethiol or penicillamine.

Norman