Methanethiol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A colorless, foul-smelling gas containing sulfur, composed of one carbon, four hydrogen atoms, and one sulfur atom, used to detect gas leaks and formed naturally in decomposition processes
2. A volatile compound characterized by a strong odor resembling rotten cabbage, consisting of a methyl group bonded to a thiol group, often employed as an odorant in safety applications
3. An organosulfur molecule with a distinctive pungent smell, formed by combining a single carbon atom with thiol functionality, notable for its role in signaling leaks and contributing to natural smells in decay and skunk spray

Etymology: Methanethiol is a textbook coinage: it is simply "methane" with "thiol" attached. "Methane" comes from "methyl" (from Greek "methy", wine, plus "hyle", wood or substance) and the "-ane" ending used for saturated hydrocarbons. "Thiol" is a chemical term built from Greek "theion", sulfur, and "-ol", the suffix marking an alcohol-like compound. The name therefore literally reads as "methane-sulfur-alcohol": a methane molecule in which one hydrogen has been swapped for a sulfur-hydrogen group (-SH). The compound name follows the logic of chemists who named each family by its core structure. Because the sulfur group is what gives the molecule its famous stench, the name points straight to the characteristic that makes the gas useful as a warning agent in natural gas, which is naturally odorless, and why it is added in trace amounts to make leaks detectable.

Synonyms: methyl mercaptan, thiomethanol