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Thiocyanate (also known as sulphocyanate) is a functional group consisting of sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen:
- S=C=N-
It has a charge of 1-.
It is analogous to the cyanate ion, with oxygen replaced by sulfur. This makes it one of the pseudo-halogens, due to its similarity with halogen ions. It was formerly known as rhodanide (from a Greek word for rose) because of its red colour in solution.
Its isomer is the isothiocyanate ion, NCS-.
Thiocyanate is produced in living organisms as the first step in the detoxification of cyanide; the enzyme responsible is a sulfotransferase known as rhodanese.
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