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Author: Subject: Best and worst smelling chemicals?
Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 3-9-2012 at 11:11


Most low-molecular weight amines smell quite bad....'fishy' seems to be a suitable adjective a lot of the time.



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[*] posted on 3-9-2012 at 13:51


I have to say that my favorites list goes, from best to worst,
1. Methyl Benzoate- Don't know why
2. Alpha pinene, reminds me of christmas
3. Methyl trans-cinnamate... jeez, I have a lot of esters on my list
4. Fatty acid methyl esters- really appetizing for some reason
5. Methyl salicylate- wintergreen
6. Chloroform- I like its sweetness, yet etherie volitility
7. Carbon tet- Yes... sorta fruity.
8. Vanillin

Yeah- once I tried to convince my gf to wear a little bit of methyl benzoate- she thought I was nuts... It does smell good, though!

My worst- from worst to bad are

1. Chlorine- I HATE IT... makes me want to gag just thinking about it
2. Ammonia- quite bad
3. Methylamine- Typical amine odor!
4. Benzaldehyde- Yes... It smells like cough medicine...
5. Formaldehyde- just plain old bad
6. GAA- vinegar is okay, I just don't like the whole room to be flooded with it!
7. Bromine- You know the smell
8. HCl- self explanitory




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[*] posted on 3-9-2012 at 22:12


Having worked a lot with triethylamine (sonogashiras in neat TEA) I dont know if I have just gotten used to it or what, but I kind of like the smell. :D

Worst smells I have come across are definitely thiophenol and benzoxazole. The latter is like a mix of pyridine and rubber, very nauseating.
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[*] posted on 3-9-2012 at 22:16


My least favourite class of compounds in this respect has to be either amines or thiols.



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[*] posted on 4-9-2012 at 05:43


This is a difficult question. Subjective, and I haven't smelled even 1% of chemicals out there. By far my favorite is a mixture of indoles and some other components, made by DuPont. They lightly oderize their country store with it, and it is subtle, yet amazing. Smelling directly from the jar, it smells foul, like a sweet skunk, but in the right dilution, something magical happened.

Worst? methylmercaptan. I give credence to some of the gases used, for instance, in the semi's industry, certain hydrides, etc, but their effect is primarily to make one instantly vomit, and secondarily, they smell god awful. But methylmercaptan smells like Tony Soprano eating an old philly sub from his fridge, and not even chewing. Later, the gasses emanating from his anus (due to anaerobic fermentation). My idea of how to describe the grim odour of methylmercaptan.
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[*] posted on 4-9-2012 at 05:48


Quote: Originally posted by ScienceHideout  

7. Bromine- You know the smell


Oh yes, bromine has distinct fecal notes to it, no doubt.
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[*] posted on 4-9-2012 at 12:05


Quote: Originally posted by Fennel Ass Ih Tone  
Quote: Originally posted by ScienceHideout  

7. Bromine- You know the smell


Oh yes, bromine has distinct fecal notes to it, no doubt.


I'd hate to be the poor person who's "fecal notes" smell of bromine....
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[*] posted on 6-9-2012 at 10:02


Haha, I actually loled at that.

My first time making Bromine I was hit with a small whiff taking the receiving flask off and stoppering it. This was done outside. The only 'fecal note' that could have resulted would have been if I shat myself during the violent coughing, snotting, tearing fit that followed.
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[*] posted on 6-9-2012 at 11:47


obviously i have never smelled fluorine or astatine (seriously doubt anyone here ever has in any noticeable quantity) but all the other halogens have distinct yet related odors. at least i thought so. iodine, chlorine, and bromine all have a somewhat similar aroma to them. not scatological but if they became extremely potent, some people may crap themselves.....
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[*] posted on 12-12-2012 at 04:14


Quote: Originally posted by Jor  
When are these sulfurated ketones formed? Good thing to know so I can avoid them at all cost. I really don't want to make such a thing by accident.

Yes by HCl/H2S/acetone, but any other reactions as well?

[Edited on 12-6-2009 by Jor]


You can use P4S10, or maybe even Al2S3 (but I really doubt it).

I am quite curious how thioacetone smells.




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[*] posted on 14-12-2012 at 06:35


Pyradine is pretty bad- just had to throw that out there...

CS2 smells like farts.




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[*] posted on 14-12-2012 at 16:36


acrylates... Just... Ick! All of them just persistently fill a room in seconds.



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[*] posted on 15-12-2012 at 04:26


Quote: Originally posted by IPN  
Having worked a lot with triethylamine (sonogashiras in neat TEA) I dont know if I have just gotten used to it or what, but I kind of like the smell. :D

Worst smells I have come across are definitely thiophenol and benzoxazole. The latter is like a mix of pyridine and rubber, very nauseating.


LOL when I read TEA I though it was triethylaluminium and I was completely paralysed!




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[*] posted on 15-12-2012 at 21:25


For some reason my solutions of potassium nitrate I make smell very nice, kind of sweet. I don't know if this is because of impurities, though.

As for bad smells, I got a nose full of ammonia and that was pretty bad, although it did clear my nose out quite well ;)




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[*] posted on 17-12-2012 at 17:32


Best: Benzaldehyde smells wonderful, also EtOAc is my favorite solvent of all time

Worst: Pyridin is pretty bad, SOCl2, Trimethylamine, Triethylamine
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[*] posted on 17-12-2012 at 21:25


Quote: Originally posted by VitaminX  
Best: Benzaldehyde smells wonderful, also EtOAc is my favorite solvent of all time
Triethylamine



Ethyl acetate makes me surprisingly hungry for some reason. :D




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[*] posted on 18-12-2012 at 00:28


I quite like the smell of NaBr and HBr; both smell kind of fruity to me. Absolutely fucking hate HCl (g or conc.) as it chokes me up and rusts the shit out of anything ferrous in the vicinity. Even my old aluminium hotplate top showed signs of corrosion (as does any Al foil nearby). I try to avoid it at ALL costs.
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[*] posted on 18-12-2012 at 08:18


Quote: Originally posted by sargent1015  
Quote: Originally posted by VitaminX  
Best: Benzaldehyde smells wonderful, also EtOAc is my favorite solvent of all time
Triethylamine



Ethyl acetate makes me surprisingly hungry for some reason. :D


LOL, I get hungry when I smell cigarette smoke. :D




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[*] posted on 18-12-2012 at 08:29


I made ethyl benzoate, that smells pretty nice. Distillation removed all the acrid notes and the pure product is just wonderful.

Impure KNO3 does have a sweet smell, weird. Salts shouldn't smell like anything.

Whatever is in nail polish is really nice. Tons of esters. Don't sniff it too much haha




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[*] posted on 18-12-2012 at 21:56


There are volatile salts, of course; lead acetate smells of acetic acid due to decomposition to the basic acetate. Cupric chloride, when heated, doesn't really smell, but because it vaporizes fairly easily (in the 300C range IIRC), the fumes can become airborne, where they stick to the sinuses really badly. Not a pleasant salt when heated!

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[*] posted on 21-12-2012 at 04:35


Ethyl acetate for the best.
Bromine for the worst one, although I have not smelled it.




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[*] posted on 21-12-2012 at 09:01


From my microbiology supplies:

Beef extract (smells just awful... looks awful... yuck)

Bacto-peptone (Has a smell reminiscent of cat piss)


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[*] posted on 21-12-2012 at 10:38


Quote: Originally posted by DJF90  
I quite like the smell of NaBr and HBr; both smell kind of fruity to me. Absolutely fucking hate HCl (g or conc.) as it chokes me up and rusts the shit out of anything ferrous in the vicinity. Even my old aluminium hotplate top showed signs of corrosion (as does any Al foil nearby). I try to avoid it at ALL costs.


But sodium bromide does not have a smell at all. It's not volatile, it's not being attacked by atmosphere not it decomposes by itself. It's a very stable salt. The only thing you might smell are the impurities, whatever they are, but pure salt... no.




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[*] posted on 22-12-2012 at 00:30


Quote: Originally posted by Endimion17  
Quote: Originally posted by DJF90  
I quite like the smell of NaBr and HBr; both smell kind of fruity to me. Absolutely fucking hate HCl (g or conc.) as it chokes me up and rusts the shit out of anything ferrous in the vicinity. Even my old aluminium hotplate top showed signs of corrosion (as does any Al foil nearby). I try to avoid it at ALL costs.


But sodium bromide does not have a smell at all. It's not volatile, it's not being attacked by atmosphere not it decomposes by itself. It's a very stable salt. The only thing you might smell are the impurities, whatever they are, but pure salt... no.


Maybe his NaBr/KBr have the same impurities as my potassium nitrate? Idk how that would happen though.




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[*] posted on 22-12-2012 at 12:33


Quote: Originally posted by Adas  
Quote: Originally posted by Jor  
When are these sulfurated ketones formed? Good thing to know so I can avoid them at all cost. I really don't want to make such a thing by accident.

Yes by HCl/H2S/acetone, but any other reactions as well?

[Edited on 12-6-2009 by Jor]


You can use P4S10, or maybe even Al2S3 (but I really doubt it).

I am quite curious how thioacetone smells.


i would like to see how thioacetone smells and would make in it small quanitity but that story about whole town evacuation doesnt sound appealing
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