We are fortunate not to have the opportunity to try it, but also not to smell thioacetone.
This article’s topic is Thioacetone , which is an organic compound that contains sulfur. It is an orange or brown solution at low temperatures. When at temperatures above -20 degrees Celsius, thioacetone will turn into a polymer and a trimer.
In a normal chemistry session this would be the part that talks about its chemical formula (C 3 H 6 S), number of moles, boiling point and a lot of other stuff. Then there’s the practice of combining this with a few other substances, balancing equations and all sorts of messes.
Thioacetone has an extremely disgusting smell.
We’re going to skip all of that to talk about the best (and scariest) thing about Thioacetone: it’s horribly disgusting smell . Like many other sulfur-containing organic compounds, the odor remains very strong even when thioacetone is extremely dilute. Countless heartbreaking stories unfold around this terrifying substance.
In 1889, a group of scientists tried to dilute thioacetone in a chemistry lab located in Freiburg, Germany. This action caused thioacetone to emit an odor, causing countless people to vomit, suffer and even pass out within a radius of 0.75km. An evacuation of Freiburg was launched because the stench was coming from nowhere. British chemists concluded in an 1890 report that dilution would make thioacetone more repulsive.
Thioacetone emits an odor, causing countless people to vomit, feel uncomfortable and even pass out within a radius of 0.75km.
In 1867, at a laboratory south of Oxford, England, researchers repeated the experiment to see how bad the Freiburg Horror really was. Initial tests have left colleagues in the house 180 meters away with nausea and discomfort.
In a second test conducted in a deodorized glass cabinet, scientists 400 miles away from the test site noticed the stench just seconds after placing a drop of the substance on the dish.
Fume hood.
Thioacetone is considered a dangerous chemical only because its smell is so scary. So you wonder how this disgusting thing is contained? Chemist Derek Lowe found a research paper stating that using a sealed container, locking the openings with alkaline permanganate, the container must be disinfected with alkaline permanganate, deodorizing with the nitro-generated vapors. from a few grams of copper dropped into HNO 3 , destroying any residues of thioacetone by bringing them to the hottest point of a wood-burning fire.
Thioacetone is classified as a hazardous chemical only because of its repulsive smell. Hopefully you will never have to face it to resort to the elimination methods listed above.