mercaptan

From German Mercaptan, coined from Latin mer(curius) (“mercury”) captan(s) (“capturing”). The term was introduced in 1832 by William Christopher Zeise because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /məːˈkapt(ə)n/, /məːˈkaptan/

mercaptan (plural mercaptans)

1. (chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R₁.S.R₂ ); they tend to be foul-smelling. When R₂ is a hydrogen atom, they are termed thiols or thioalcohols.

• mercapto

Coined from Latin mercurium captans.

mercaptan m (plural mercaptans)

1. (chemistry) mercaptan

• “mercaptan” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).