Tin sulfide is a chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 Sn

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

S₂

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

. The compound crystallizes in the cadmium iodide

Cadmium iodide

Cadmium iodide, CdI2, is a chemical compound of cadmium and iodine. It is notable for its crystal structure, which is typical for compounds of the form MX2 with strong polarization effects.-Uses:...

 motif, with the Sn(IV) situated in "octahedral holes' defined by six sulfide centers. It occurs naturally as the rare mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 berndtite.

The compound precipitates as a brown solid upon the addition of H₂S to solutions of tin(IV) species. This reaction is reversed at low pH. Crystalline SnS₂ has a bronze colour and is used in decorative coating where it is known as mosaic gold

Mosaic gold

Mosaic gold, or stannic sulfide, SnS2, is obtained as a yellow scaly crystalline powder, and used as a pigment in bronzing and gilding wood and metal work. It was called by the alchemists aurum musivum, or aurum mosaicum...

.

The material also reacts with sulfide salts to give a series of thiostannates with the formula [SnS₂]_m[S]_n²ⁿ⁻. A simplified equation for this depolymerization reaction is

SnS₂ + S²⁻ → 1/x{SnS₃²⁻}_x.