Sulphur compounds, organic, attack

Platinum is unaffected by most organic compounds, although some compounds may catalytically decompose or become oxidised on a platinum surface at elevated temperatures, resulting in an etched appearance of the metal. Carbon and sulphur do not attack platinum at any temperature up to its melting point. Molten platinum may dissolve carbon, but the solubility of the latter in solid solution is virtually zero. 

In a simulation of the reaction of glucose and cellulose with hydrogen sulphide and polysulphide at ambient temperature in aqueous solution the formation of organic sulphur compounds was observed which yielded thiophene on pyrolysis/evaporation. By such a process carbohydrates in nature might be converted into sulphur compound which, being resistant to microbial attack, would be preserved in sediments. ... 

The Sulphur Cycle.— Unlike phosphorus, sulphur appears in both oxidised and reduced forms in the history of life. Completely oxidised as sulphate, it enters the plant from the soil, and is converted into partially reduced organic compounds containing the thiol group —SH or the disulphide linkage —S—S—. From these, the completely reduced form, HjS, is derived by bacterial degradation either in the soil or in the alimentary tract of the animal. Hydrogen sulphide is attacked by the sulphur-oxidising bacteria, with the ultimate formation of sulphate, which is available for plant absorption. 

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