What gases are responsible for the smell in rotten eggs?
Elemental sulfur is odorless (though it will often have partially oxidized and will smell of acidic sulfur dioxide). It does not have a rotten egg smell. Ammonium salts are also odorless. Ammonia has a distinctive odor, but not that of rotten eggs or fish. Hydrogen sulfide is the primary chemical responsible for the rotten egg odor. I think mercaptans (thiols) might also contribute to the smell, but I am not sure. If you are using this for a stink bomb, I would advise you to stay away from hydrogen sulfide – it is about as toxic as hydrogen cyanide, but can be detected by the nose at safe concentrations. However, high concentrations will paralyze the olfactory nerves, causing the smell to disappear and leaving the victim unaware of the danger. Ammonium bisulfide (hydrosulfide) is a safer alternative that is used in commercial stink bombs. Fish odors generally result from amines: try trimethylamine or triethylamine. Diamines can smell really bad: putrescine and cadaverine are two such c
