dimethyl

[dahy-meth-uhl]

noun

Chemistry.

1. ethane.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dimethyl¹

First recorded in 1865–70; di- ¹ + methyl

Example Sentences

Dimethyl sulfide, also known as DMS, sounds like it could be a chemical compound you’d try to avoid on an ingredient label or the poisonous ingredient in a murder mystery.

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Let’s mention here that dimethyl sulfide is emitted during wildfires, and so contributes to a scent that has grown chillingly familiar in many parts of North America in recent years.

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When it’s not saving us from asphyxiation or carrying out useful industrial processes, dimethyl sulfide also lends its “low-tide, rotten egg facet” as a nearly subconscious flavor in food and drinks, measured in a few parts per million.

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A few of the most prominent of these in A. titanum are oligosulfides like dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide.

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A study published this month in the journal Science explored the exact genetic mechanisms of Asarum flowers to figure out how they pull this off, exploring the ways some plants in the genus produce dimethyl disulfide, that corpse-smell compound.

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