English Explanatory Dictionary

mercaptan

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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.

Pronunciation

/məˈkapt(ə)n/ /mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/

Word forms

mercaptan mercaptans

Etymology

Etymology tree German Mercaptanbor. English mercaptan Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.

Related words

mercapto sulfide organosulfide

Derived words

ethyl mercaptan mercaptoundecanoic mercapturic methyl mercaptan phenyl mercaptan polymercaptan
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