Skunks, odor

One pet owner recently prescribed the following home remedy to eliminate skunk odor Add 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent to 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide. Soak a rag with the solution and saturate the affected areas, rubbing it in. 111 What valuable chemistry is working to deodorize your dog ... 

Skunk Odor Removal. Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County, Penn State, http //lancaster.extension.psu.edu/Family/newsletters/HomeLlfeJulAug.htm Skunk Odor... 

Deodorize Skunk Spray Neutralize Skunk Odor. Professor William F. Wood, Department of Chemistry, Humboldt State University, Areata, CA, http //www.humboldt.edu/ wfw2/deodorize.shtml... 

These are volatile compounds and do have rather dreadful smells. They also occur in skunk spray in the form of their acetate esters. These are much less volatile and so contribute less to the immediate odor. However, on contact with water, they are slowly converted to the free thiols, a reaction that accounts for the persistence of skunk odor for days or weeks. The chemical components of skunk defensive secretion vary somewhat from species to species but thiols play a prominent role in all cases. 

Preparations that are used to eliminate skunk odor are oxidizing agents that convert the sulfhydryl groups to sulfonic acids ... 

The secretion of the anal glands of skunks epitomizes mammalian defense secretions. Sulfur compovmds in the scent of striped skunk Mephitis mephitis) include rra 5-2-butene-l-thiol, 3-methyl-l-butanethiol (Andersen and Bernstein, 1975), rra 5-2-butenyl thioacetate, 3-methylbutanyl thioacetate, and 2-quinolinemethane thiol (Wood, 1990 Fig. 10.9). The thiols, once called mercaptans (because they captured mercury atoms), are like alcohols with a sulfur atom in place of the oxygen. In the striped skvmk, the thioacetates break down in water. They yield thiols, which have the more potent, characteristic skunk odor and linger for up to 2 weeks. In the spotted skunk, by contrast, the... 

Methanethiol and other, lighter alkyl thiols are fairly common air pollutants that have ultragarlic odors both 1- and 2-butanethiol are associated with skunk odor. Gaseous methanethiol is used as an odorant leak-detecting additive for natural gas, propane, and butane it is also employed as an intermediate in pesticide synthesis. A toxic, irritating volatile liquid with a strong garlic odor, 2-propene-l-thiol (allyl mercaptan) is a typical alkenyl mercaptan. Benzenethiol (phenyl mercaptan) is the simplest of the aryl thiols. It is a toxic liquid with a severely repulsive odor. 

Veteran smokers can easily tell if a sample of marijuana is bunk, ordinary or special by crushing a bud in one s fingers. When it breaks open, there should be a pungent smell. If its quite good, the fingers should also be somewhat sticky. Some strains have a strong pine, mint or skunk odor. 

PROP Mobile liquid heavy skunk odor. 

Properties Colorless liquid strong skunk odor. D... 

Mobile liquid. Heavy skunk odor, mp —115,9". bp 98,2" bp7M, 98,4. Flammable, df 0,83679. ng 1,44014. Slightly sol in water. Very sol in alcohol, ether, liquid hydrogen sulfide. Forms azeotropic mixtures with butyl alco-... 

Thus, dogs that had been sprayed by a skunk weeks ago can suddenly reacquire the unpleasant skunk odor after being out in the rain. 

Mixed with baking soda and a small amount of hand soap, hydrogen peroxide is effective at removing skunk odor. 

---