mercaptan

American  

[mer-kap-tan] / mərˈkæp tæn /

noun

Chemistry.

1. any of a class of sulfur-containing compounds having the type formula RSH, in which R represents a radical, and having an extremely offensive, garlicky odor.

---

mercaptan British  

/ mɜːˈkæptæn /

noun

1. another name (not in technical usage) for thiol

---

mercaptan Scientific  

/ mər-kăp′tăn′ /

1. See thiol

---

Etymology

Origin of mercaptan

1825–35; < Latin, short for phrase corpus mercurium captāns body capturing quicksilver

Example Sentences

Because natural gas has no smell, Piedmont uses mercaptan — also known as methanethiol — to give the gas “a distinctive smell of rotten eggs,” the utility said in a news release.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 14, 2022

The CAA has also ordered the gas companies to add the pungent ethyl mercaptan to the gas cylinders to make it easier to smell gas leaks.

From Reuters • Dec. 8, 2021

Whether hydrogen sulfide or mercaptan, Southern California residents have often used terms like “rotting” or “rotten” to describe funky smells.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2021

Ms. Clayton-Tarvin talked about the area’s layout of gas lines, the trajectory of the smell’s spread and her sense in the odor of a hint of mercaptan — a natural gas additive.

From New York Times • Dec. 16, 2016

An average man can detect just a few molecules of butyl mercaptan, and most of us can sense the presence of musk in vanishingly small amounts.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas