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Reference.org
Lower sulfur oxides
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<p>The lower sulfur oxides are a group of <a href="/facts/Inorganic_compounds/TfFfzxSz">inorganic compounds</a> with the formula S<i>m</i>O<i>n</i>, where 2<i>m</i> > <i>n</i>. These species are often unstable and thus rarely encountered in everyday life. They are significant intermediates in the combustion of elemental sulfur. Some well characterized examples include <a href="/facts/Sulfur_monoxide/CI8PbSJX">sulfur monoxide</a> (SO), its dimer S2O2, and a series of cyclic sulfur oxides, S<i>n</i>O<i>x</i> (<i>x</i> = 1, 2), based on cyclic S<i>n</i> rings. </p><p>Interest in the lower sulfur oxides has increased because of the need to understand terrestrial atmospheric sulfur pollution and the finding that the extraterrestrial atmospheres of <a href="/facts/Io_(moon)/p3Uc8FmK">Io</a>, one of <a href="/facts/Jupiter/95m7XjMT">Jupiter</a>'s moons, and <a href="/facts/Venus/pADnueP6">Venus</a> contain significant amounts of sulfur oxides. Some compounds reported by early workers such as the blue "sesquioxide", S2O3, formed by dissolving sulfur in liquid SO3 appears to be a mixture of polysulfate salts of the S2+4 and S2+8 ions. </p>