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mercaptan

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mercaptan (mərkăp`tăn) or thiol (thī`ōl), any of a class of organic compounds containing the group -SH bonded to a carbon atom. The volatile low-molecular-weight mercaptans have disagreeable odors. Mercaptans are found in crude petroleum, and methyl mercaptan is produced as a decay product of animal and vegetable matter. They also are produced by certain plants and animals; e.g., allyl mercaptan is released when onions are cut, butanethiol (butyl mercaptan) derivatives are present in skunk secretion, and mercaptans are among the sulfur compounds causing the disagreeable odor of flatus. T-butyl mercaptan blends are often added to the odorless natural gas used for cooking and serve to warn of gas leaks. Mercaptans take part in a wide variety of chemical reactions. Their principal uses are in jet fuels, pharmaceuticals, and livestock-feed additives.
mercaptan [mər′kap‚tan]
(organic chemistry)
A group of organosulfur compounds that are derivatives of hydrogen sulfide in the same way that alcohols are derivatives of water; have a characteristically disagreeable odor, and are found with other sulfur compounds in crude petroleum; an example is methyl mercaptan. Also known as thiol.


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Among these sulfur compounds you will find methyl mercaptan (smell like sweaty socks), cadaverine (smells like garbage that is old), putrescine, and sulfide (which is a bit like eggs that have gone rotten).
Bacteria produce volatile compounds that smell unpleasant, including hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulphide.
Although the company has now stopped taking the material, it will take some time for the mercaptan to workout of its treatment system.
 
 
 
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