Germanium disulfide

Germanium disulfide or Germanium(IV) sulfide is the inorganic compound with the formula GeS2. It is a white high-melting crystalline solid. The compound is a 3-dimensional polymer, in contrast to silicon disulfide, which is a one-dimensional polymer. The Ge-S distance is 2.19 Å.

Isolation, production, reactions
Germanium disulfide was first found in samples of argyrodite. The fact that germanium sulfide does not dissolve in aqueous acid facilitated its isolation.

Germanium disulfide is produced by treating a solution of germanium tetrachloride in a concentrated hydrochloric acid solution with hydrogen sulfide. It precipitates as a white solid.

It is insoluble in water, it dissolves in aqueous solutions of sodium sulfide owing to the formation of thiogermanates:
 * GeS2 + Na2S  ->  Na2GeS3

Natural occurrence
Natural GeS2 is restricted to fumaroles of some burning coal-mining waste heaps.