I was looking for information on how it smells and I’m only finding pages that say it smells terrible. Even the Wikipedia only mentions “Due to its diminished vapor pressure, its odor, while unpleasant, is less objectionable than related thiols”
I’m still curious what it smells like though…
I’d seen that first link already but the second link got it, thank you! For those that don’t want to click:
beta-Mercaptoethanol: rather similar to ethanethiol, but the extra OH group gives it some real staying power. Sort of the “sun and sport” version of the parent compound.
and
Ethanethiol: the prototype of the class. All the basic sulfur-stink notes - skunky and intestinal. Very volatile, too, which really gives it a quick wallop, but at least it doesn’t stay around forever.
I wish I still worked in a lab, i would totally put this up! It definitely permeates everything and you can tell when someone’s used it!
In grad school, someone in one of the bio labs dropped a bottle and cleared out the whole building. It was so gross!
