The cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), zinc(II), cadmium(II), silver(I) and mercury(II) complexes of diethyldithiocarbamic acid were prepared and their thermal properties determined by TG, DTA, and high temperature reflectance spectroscopy. It was found that the copper(II), nickel(II), and zinc(II) chelates were completely volatile and thus represent a new class of volatile metal chelates. Vapor pressure measurements were made on four of the metal complexes; heats of vaporization ranged from 9.3±0.2 kcal/mole for Na[Co(DDC)3] to 24.2±0.6 kcal/mole for Zn(DDC)2.