Do thiols really smell?
Yes, most thiols have a foul odor. The extent of this odor depends somewhat on the chain length of the thiol. Shorter thiols tend to have a stronger odor. Part of the potency of the thiol smell comes from the noses acute ability to detect thiols in the part per million range. As a note, the main chemical that makes skunks smell so bad is a thiol, 2-butene-1-thiol. The thiol smell is also used in natural gas to help detect gas leaks. In this case the thiol used is typically ethanethiol.
