PbSO3

lead(II) sulfite · lead sulfite

Lead(II) sulfite is a metastable, insulating lead salt that exists in several distinct structural configurations.

OPbS
Crystal structure of PbSO3 (orthorhombic, Pnma (No. 62))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

About lead(II) sulfite

Lead(II) sulfite is a distinct inorganic compound characterized by its insulating electronic nature. As a wide-band-gap material, it exhibits specific optical and dielectric properties that distinguish it from more conductive metallic salts.

Despite its metastable thermodynamic state, the compound has been extensively documented across multiple structural databases. Its presence in various crystalline forms highlights the complexity of lead-sulfur-oxygen chemistry and its potential utility in specialized chemical synthesis.

At a glance

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for lead(II) sulfite, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

3.23–3.64 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.081 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

Metastable
2 DFT sources

Structures

13
4 databases, 3 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for PbSO3, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
Pnma (No. 62)orthorhombic3.640.0810-6.2566.16
P21/m (No. 11)monoclinic3.230.0826-6.2546.19
No. 0unknown1.50
No. 0unknown1.50
P21/m (No. 11)Monoclinic6.30
P21/m (No. 11)Monoclinic6.57
P21/m (No. 11)Monoclinic6.19
Pnma (No. 62)Orthorhombic6.27
No. 0unknown1.50
Pnma (No. 62)
Pnma (No. 62)Orthorhombic6.16
Pnma (No. 62)Orthorhombic6.53
Uses

Applications

Where lead(II) sulfite is used.

Chemical synthesisMaterials science researchInorganic pigment precursor studies
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about lead(II) sulfite, answered from cross-validated data.

What is PbSO3?

Lead(II) sulfite is a metastable, insulating lead salt that exists in several distinct structural configurations.

More questions
What is PbSO3 used for?
lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) is used in chemical synthesis, materials science research, and inorganic pigment precursor studies.
What is the band gap of PbSO3?
lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) has a DFT-computed band gap of 3.23–3.64 eV across 13 reported structures.
Is PbSO3 a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a wide band gap up to 3.64 eV it is an insulator / wide-band-gap material.
Is PbSO3 thermodynamically stable?
lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) has a lowest energy above hull of 0.081 eV/atom (metastable).
What is the crystal structure of PbSO3?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) is orthorhombic symmetry, space group Pnma (No. 62).
What is the density of PbSO3?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) is 6.16 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of PbSO3 are known?
13 structures of PbSO3 are reported across 4 databases, spanning 3 distinct space groups.
What elements does PbSO3 contain?
lead(II) sulfite (PbSO3) contains O, Pb, and S (3 elements).
Where does the data for PbSO3 come from?
PbSO3 data is cross-referenced from materials_project, cod, mpaloe, jarvis.
Comparison

How It Compares

As a standalone representative of its chemical group, lead(II) sulfite serves as a critical reference point for understanding the stability and structural diversity of lead-based oxoanion compounds in the absence of more common sulfate or carbonate analogs.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
  • cod — Data from the Crystallography Open Database. Cite: Grazulis et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 40, D420 (2012).
  • mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
  • jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).

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