Metal compounds of benzene-1,3-diamidoethanethiol (BDETH2), a thiol based ligand

Heavy metal pollution is a serious threat to natural ecosystems. Various methods and technologies are in use to remove heavy metals from the environment. They include phytoremediation, bioremediation, activated carbon adsorption, extractions, and others. More recently the use of chemical reagents to combat heavy metal pollution has come into play. Some of them, the thiol-based ligands in particular, have proven effective in precipitation heavy metals from aqueous systems. The latest and most versatile chemical precipitation reagent is known as Benzene-1,3-diamidoethanethiol abbreviated as BDETH2). Marketed with the common name MetX this ligand has been found effective in binding heavy metals in a variety of settings. Synthesis, and characterization of this relatively inexpensive an dnon-toxic multidentate ligand and its bonding arrangement to the metals Cd, Hg, and Pb along with the full characterization data of the BDET-M compounds will be presented here.