Word.ws English Dictionary

mercaptans

mercaptans is the plural of mercaptan.

Meaning of mercaptan

Noun

mercaptan (plural mercaptans)

  1. Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R-SH ) where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. They tend to be foul-smelling. They are also termed thiols or thioalcohols.
    • Though this might come as a surprise, gas actually has no odor; gas companies are obligated to odorize it to make it safer for use in homes.
      Mercaptan, a harmless chemical, is added to create the distinct smell in both natural gas (methane) and liquid petroleum gas (propane, butane).2022 April 25, AlfredCamera, “Spotting Gas Leak Symptoms and Staying Safe”, in Home Security Expert

Questions about mercaptans

What is mercaptans the plural of?
Mercaptans is the plural of mercaptan.

Words near mercaptans in the dictionary

  1. mercaptal
  2. mercaptalbumin
  3. mercaptals
  4. mercaptamine
  5. mercaptan
  6. mercaptans
  7. mercaptide
  8. mercaptides
  9. mercapto
  10. mercapto protease
  11. mercapto proteases

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mercaptans (page history and authors); mercaptan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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