Although the first mixed valence double sulfite, Cu2SO3.CuSO3.2H2O, was prepared in the early 19th century by M. Chevreul, interest in this type of compound was only rekindled in the mid-1960s, when the crystalline structure of Chevreul's salt was determined and its infrared spectrum characterized. Studies of this type of compound have been intensified in recent years, especially after the discovery that the isomorphic Cu(II) in Chrevreul's salt could be replaced by a divalent metal ion, forming an isomorphic series whose properties are strongly dependent on the nature of the M(II) cation. Because of their interesting properties, these mixed valence systems can be used as models to identify intermediates in atmospheric corrosion processes, and to evaluate the role of transition metals as catalysts of S(IV) autoxidation in the conversion of SO2 in the atmosphere.
Chevreul's salt; double sulfites; mixed valence systems; isomorphic series
