Smelling Isocyanides: The REAL Stinkiest Chemicals On Earth (WAY Worse Than Thioacetone)

Ever since I made thioacetone for the first time back in 2022, I've been on a quest to find the most offensive smell on Earth...and I think I just might've found a prime candidate: n-butyl isocyanide! This is the only chemical I have ever tested that made me cough and experience discomfort from odor alone. It's not corrosive, irritating, or significantly toxic. It just REALLY reeks.
NOTE: the giveaway has ended, so any money sent for isocyanide will be refunded.
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Be sure to check out ‪@midwestchem368‬ and his take on the Gabriel synthesis:
Part 1: • the gabriel synthesis ...
Part 2: • 100 sub finale. n buty...
A special thanks to ‪@BackYardScience2000‬ for donating some of his chemicals to my channel! If you ever need specialty reagents, like benzene or phosphorus, be sure to check out his eBay store:
www.ebay.com/str/backyardscie...
Need hydrochloric or nitric acid (especially in bulk)? Be sure to check out the excellent selection found at Alchemie Labs:
alchemielabs.com/
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WARNING: isocyanides are potentially toxic if inhaled for extended periods of time (some having similar effects to carbon monoxide). Organic amines are also mildly toxic and somewhat corrosive. Do not attempt anything seen in this video unless you understand the risks involved!
0:00 My stinky journey
1:00 The wrong kind of smell
1:29 Isocyanides
2:20 How do you make an isocyanide?
4:09 Aniline synthesis
8:08 Tert-butylamine
8:54 N-butylamine
9:39 Smelling day
11:08 Phenyl isocyanide smell test
12:32 Tert-butyl isocyanide
13:20 N-butyl isocyanide: the VERY worst
14:27 Distilling n-butyl isocyanide
15:02 Stinky problems
16:35 Pure n-butyl isocyanide!
16:55 Oops.
17:25 Distilling the other isocyanides
18:01 What do they smell like?
20:19 Comparing the super-stenches (thioacetone, selenols, and more)
23:36 ISOCYANIDES FOR SALE!
24:03 Sponsor thanks and conclusion

[@LabCoatz_Science]

A moment of silence for Matt's nose.

[@evilotis01]

......and NileRed's cameraman

[@marconiandcheese7258]

F

[@noodlelynoodle.]

A moment of silence for that poor car, it's never gonna smell right again lmfao

[@LabCoatz_Science]

@@noodlelynoodle. Surprisingly, even after being tortured with selenols and isocyanides, that van still smells like it came straight off the lot, lol

[@noodlelynoodle.]

@@LabCoatz_Science that's insane to me lmfao I would never have the confidence to do smelly chemistry in my car I'd be so scared the smell would seep in and never go away lol

[@craigschwass2327]

The intro makes me want a video of Nilered’s cameraman reacting to all these chemicals 😂

[@That_Chemist]

I bet Reggie could be convinced

[@BioCybergoth]

seeing Nilered's friend suffering with Thioacetone was one the funniest bits in his video, the isocyanides might have him either vomiting or probably landing punches on Nilered just from travelling there with him, I can't wait to see that.

[@KU_Fallen]

Crafts chemical weapon in public. Drops it on the ground. Refuses to elaborate.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I cleaned it all up officer, I swear!

[@TrackpadProductions]

_"Normally, it would be done with a mixture of tin and hydrochloric acid, but sadly, I’m not normal - and I didn’t have any tin."_

[@TrackpadProductions]

Kinda interesting how the impetus for making this was to understand what it smells like, since all sources reported it only as "indescribable"... Only to discover that it's smell is, in fact, _indescribable._

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Well, partially indescribable...it's like a very weird burning plastic. But yeah, there isn't any one thing I can point to and say "that's what it smells like!"

[@Matoro342]

I'd say it smells like you're being dissolved

[@tktspeed1433]

​@@LabCoatz_Sciencesounds like what N,N-DMT smells like. Or well, the non burnt DMT smells like new offbrand sneakers.

[@00bean00]

@@LabCoatz_Science Have you smelled Me2PhP?

[@L4ftyOne]

​@@tktspeed1433get off your psychosis drugs dude

[@NonEuclideanTacoCannon]

I think context has a big role in how awful something smells. I remember as a kid, sitting in class and smelling the worst fart I'd ever smelled. It turned out to be one of those glass "stink bomb" ampoules, and breaking one and smelling it again later, not having nearly the same reaction. It wouldn't be ethical, but I think the best reactions would be from randos who have no idea what is going on or where the smell came from. Anyway, the worst thing I've ever smelled, was a bucket full of fish parts and pork trimmings that a coworker had mistakenly lidded and was left in an unused building for several months. We popped the lid thinking it was a bucket of semolina and every single one of us threw up.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I agree that organic smells tend to feel grosser. For example, isocyanides may be unbearably strong, but to me, they aren't super disgusting...unlike butyric acid (the smell of vomit), which is one of the few chemicals to make me feel physically ill from the smell.

[@NonEuclideanTacoCannon]

@@LabCoatz_Science For sure. We're like, evolutionarily wired to be repulsed by biological things that may be infectious. It reminds me of an experiment I read about. They had several white towels, each had been used to wipe up a different color of liquid. Brown, red, yellow, and blue. People were asked which one would be least gross to touch, and everyone said the towel with the blue stains.

[@Paonporteur]

​@@LabCoatz_Sciencethere are people out there who use propionic acid and butyric acid as vinegar (acetic acid) substitutes. Vinegar contains 6% acetic acid and is added to soups and other stuff to add/eliminate flavor. Imagine adding butyric acid 'vinegar' to that instead.

[@StuffandThings_]

@@Paonporteur Could probably get away with using the "fruits" of Ginkgo, which supposedly are edible yet are notorious for their butyric acid content

[@user-xi5ej4ox5s]

​@@LabCoatz_Science Hello man. I watched all your stinky chemicals videos and I present a challange for you. You will compare a stench of evaporated mixture of all superstinky chemicals you have ever coocked and the stench of cauldron of horrors. You may ask me what is cauldron of horrors? Well, I will tell you. First of all you need a huge cauldron and open fire underneath it. In this cauldron you mix human #shit, adult male cat urina ( in large amount ) which was collected at least few weeks ago, many rotten eggs, rotten human #cum ( in large amount ), skunk gland secretion ( in large amount ), rotten meat and fish, a lot of superstinky garlic, sweat from socks which were on feet for more than 1 year ( in large amount ) and a lot of fresh #vomit. You need to homogenise that mixture and warm it to the point of boilng. Before and after it boils you should constantly mix this horrific mixture. If you have urge to #piss, to #shit, to #vomit or maybe even to #fap during the process you should do all of that in the cauldron too. After all water is evaporated from the horrific mixture you should let it all burn in the cauldron until nothing but coal remains.

[@spiderdude2099]

I worked with tert-butyl isocyanide in undergrad. It….has the most IMPOSSIBLE to explain smell. It was definitely unpleasant, but I’d say that thiols smell worse to me. The best description i can give for its scent is: “If you took the juice that falls out of a garbage bag, microwaved it with a rubber tire until the tire burned, and then bubbled chlorine through it.” It truly smelled awful, but in a way I truly CANNOT accurately describe.

[@swarthygiant1463]

That sounds a lot like getting skunked to me. I was absolutely blown away how skunk spray on you smells absolutely nothing like a skunk in the distance. Best description I can is if you took a garbage full of moldy popcorn lit it on fire, but way worse. I’ve been maced and I’d take the mace over the skunk any day lol

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

I recognize that white box your benzene was in. Backyard science 2000 recently hooked me up with a free hotplate since mine died, some wp, and sodium borohydride. Great guy, I've got to get going making videos.

[@darrena2625]

I love how all you online chemists help each other out despite taking the micky out of each other and possibly be a bit competitive. It's so fun to watch. Cheers !

[@lucycarr6065]

NileRed: Tentatively takes small cautious sniff of nastiness, plays up reaction. LabCoatz: Huffs nastiness like a crackhead, has to downplay reaction and resist the urge to puke. Truly a trailblazer.

[@00bean00]

Which chemical? Which reaction to it? All I remember is him saying SBMO was not that bad

[@SixTough]

Absolute chad

[@ImNotQualifiedToSayThisBut]

Nile red didn't play up his reaction though? It was his camera man who kinda died wasn't he

[@auroraourania7161]

@@ImNotQualifiedToSayThisBut Yeah, Nilered didn't have that bad of a reaction, and if they'd decided to play it up, he wouldn't have had his cameraman be the only one to react that way.

[@sipos0]

Descriptions of thioacetone say it actually smells worse in low concentrations than higher ones, which may explain the difference in experience. I have also read a theory that thioacetone is in a equilibrium with something, and it is only one of the forms/chemicals that smells awful, but details aren't well understood.

[@sealpiercing8476]

Most people can honestly call a smell indescribable and it's no more an exaggeration than people commonly make in casual speech. Most people don't talk about smells in a lot of detail, and lack the vocabulary when they attempt to do so. If I needed to talk about smells with precision, first I would have to smell enough things to serve as points of reference. Presumably this is what people do when they actually need to discriminate smells for a professional purpose. Such as a chemistry youtube channel :P

[@alexpotts6520]

Normally when KZbinrs involve their parents in stuff I find it a bit cringe, but your dad is really wholesome and it's clear that he's actually interested in this kind if stuff beyond the usual level of "supporting your kid's hobby.

[@revenevan11]

I agree, it's very wholesome to see!

[@nopenope9366]

CaCl2 can react with amines, so thats probably why it didn’t work well to dry the aniline. Great video by the way! You should do some synthesis of perfumery chemicals for future videos. Also its good for clickbait titles “Turning lice remover into cherry flavor???” for benzyl alcohol -> benzaldehyde for example.

[@coreysayre1376]

I just have stop for a minute to appreciate you all... The great, and often painstaking, amount of detail that is gone into with the overall descriptions of what you guys are smelling is wonderful! Y'all have been consistently amazing throughout this whole saga in this regard, and as someone who also appreciates strange odors from time to time--it's like I'm right there with ya! I'm not a chemist although I do enjoy and dabble in chemistry, nor do I have a particularly sensitive sense of smell so far as I can tell. However, I did begin to notice and pay attention to what sense I do have, quite early on my life. Particularly interesting to me, was just how influential certain odors were to me, such as my affinity for the smell of gasoline smelled as far back as I can recall. Or how some people began to smell 'attractive' before I really knew the meaning of that word as we all acquired our own, 'teen spirit' let's say. All the way to today 2-3 decades later, how I look forward to the smell of diesel exhaust or coffee in the morning. It's always been fascinating how certain odors/scents can cause such potent psychological and/or even physical responses such as my first whiff of ammonia. But I digress, That is all to say, I have paid, perhaps, more attention to smell than the average person, and as such I naturally have a reservoir of highly detailed, odd, and often unpleasant, descriptors in my vocabulary that I often use internally to qualify/identify new ones I come across. It is quite striking to me how similarly you or your father sound to my own internal chatter as you rattle off things like, 'plasticky superglue' (which is as clear to me, as if it had been written in some kind of smell dictionary), and all this has really made me feel like I was in the park right there with you guys. In conclusion, y'all are great at describing what these fascinating and niche odors smell like, and I enjoy that immensely! Thanks for listening to my TEDtalk 😛hope y'all have a good one!

[@aaronpreston47]

I glad I found you through Nile Red, he’s great but his nose has been throughly destroyed by chemicals and I sincerely doubt his judgment on stink.

[@Pyxis10]

Nile red: These icocyanides don't smell bad. Everyone else: Passed out.

[@StuffandThings_]

I love how despite being quite professional, this has a vibe of hillbilly chemistry

[@chemdelic]

One of your best videos yet brother

[@rheoplex]

Shout out to your friends for bearing with that. Also, I loved your comparison of the different isocyanides. After digging a bit, the steric hindrance seems to be the important factor for the different odor intensity of the benzylic and aliphatic isocyanides. So maybe the shorter alkyl isocyanides might be even worse.

[@littlecatedward7737]

I just found your channel and think it’s one of my new favorites

[@brandon-kg2vd]

Your dad's description was super solid and gave me a good idea of the smell

[@OmegaPaladin144]

Man, I am impressed with your work here. Since I work in Lab Safety professionally, I'd really like to see more eye pro, but I really appreciate you actually testing these chemicals.-

[@iscuit]

Hope u know that these videos are amazing! They're edited simply, but its just all perfect. High quality and feels so genuine. I hope u never stop, ur my favorite chemistry youtuber rn! 💯 wish i could give 100 thumbs up. Greetings from Sweden

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Thanks man, I hope I'll be able to continue posting to this channel throughout my life, with progressively better/more unusual projects! People like you definitely make it worth it!

[@stockstreamtwitch]

Great work! Thanks for testing multiple chemicals in a single video. 👍

[@arentsteen5452]

Enjoyable content. It's videos like these that make me want to do an extra major in chemistry

[@TheMetalMusicMachine]

Now you've got to do the same but with the nicest smelling chemicals you can synthesize. That would be a nice counterpoint to this saga of videos!!! Esters, long chain aldehydes, terpenes or something like that. Great videos!

[@yorkshirechemist]

coumarin and cinnamic acid both smell bloody lovely, both can be prepared using the Perkin reaction between benzaldehyde/salicylaldehyde and acetic anhydride

[@bromisovalum8417]

There's personal preference too. For example, I really like the smell of 4-ethoxybenzene because it reminds me of the pistachio icecream I used to get as a kid.

[@reloup8969]

​@@yorkshirechemisthighly concentrated coumarin can be a bit offensive. There's a type of grass that has a root very rich of coumarin and it can smell pretty bad. But dilute it and it has a wonderful smell. I made syrup from it.

[@NerdlabsSci]

holy shit the stinky chemistry returns yet again! As always, epic video, and I can't wait to see what you make next!

[@MonsieurMaskedMan]

awesome video dude, can't wait for more of these

[@feelinghealingfrequences7179]

excellent narrations good editing great video

[@rattmcpossum]

Man what a great patreon gift at the end

[@midwestchem368]

Dude that was so cool! I'm really happy the n-butylamine and ethanolamine got to be put to something really awesome. I like to see how excited you get for these compounds keep it up man another great video!

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Hey, speaking of the ethanolamine, I've been trying to run the Henry reaction with it, and I've been having some issues. How did you run your reaction between the catechol aldehyde and nitromethane? I ran mine with a few drops of ethanolamine, 0.5g nitromethane, 1.1g aldehyde, and 1-2mL ethanol, and I got a red gooey substance after adding water and cooling in the fridge. How did you get such nice, yellow crystals?

[@midwestchem368]

@@LabCoatz_Science you've probably got some tar or side reactions going on. The reaction of aldehydes and nitromethane is really delicate and can be rapid depending on the conditions. The post i tagged you in a believe that reaction was 1 minute i stopped it because it rapidly went blood red rapidly. A smooth transition to blood red over an hour or more is ok its easy to hit the right point of stopping. Finding a stopping point is a little hard at first because the red color is also normal to see. Try 1g of aldehyde, 1ml of nitromethane, 1ml of ethanol and 1 drop of ethanolamine as a test and if you notice it go dark blood red way too fast(like within a minute) try to stop the reaction by adding a drop or 2 of water. This will precipitate out the product and then ice bath it to get the most out. It is usually easier to control the larger the scale but reagents are precious and nitrostyrenes dont have too many uses. The last most part is everything does need to be dry until you're ready to precipitate the product. Its goes through a beta nitroalcohol intermediate followed by dehydration to the nitroalkene. This is alot of what I know about this reaction and if you want to practice it without wasting aldehydes try to use vanillin as a substitute. I hope this helps man and if you have anymore questions feel free to reach out I'd be more than happy to help!

[@midwestchem368]

@@LabCoatz_Science I forgot did you reflux it? If so what temperature? 45-55c is a good heating range I use a hot water bath. If it's not tar then it's a polymerized product. Also how long did you run the reaction?

[@LabCoatz_Science]

@@midwestchem368 I refluxed it in boiling ethanol directly on the hotplate for about three hours, and then boiled off most of the ethanol after I figured out I had too much (aka, probably too hot for too long, lol). I'm thinking next time I'll try simply warming it in a hot water bath for thirty minutes and then crashing everything out in cold water. I might also try the reaction with little to no solvent...idk, I'm interested to know how you did the reaction!

[@midwestchem368]

@@LabCoatz_Science when you get it then it's very exciting! It's a reaction that loves to hassle people. Try what you said a hot water bath and less reaction time. Ethanolamine tends to reach completion faster than other catalysts. I made a mistake on the proportions i gave in my previous comment. The catalyst is a balancing point too. Too little and the reaction is slow too much then you blow past the end point and will probably have tar like in my case it happened in literally 1 minute which means I used too much catalyst which was 4 or 5 drops to 1g of aldehyde. You're right though it's better to use a little less solvent so it doesn't need to be reduced you can always add more later if you need. If you get the proportions close it should transition to that red color a little more slowly than my 1 minute reaction time. When you get crystals save some if you want to repeat it because seed crystals help alot. You got this man! The best proportions I have found for very small scale are 1g aldehyde, 1ml nitromethane, 1 drop ethanolamine, 0.5-1ml ethanol. You can also add a drop or two of glacial acetic acid before the ethanolamine. This reaction does work a little better with amine acetates but it's not 100% necessary.

[@michaeldwyer1966]

I'm really enjoying your content... Keep it up

[@Dee-nonamnamrson8718]

You're crazy for doing chemistry in the back of your car. People are going to think you're the next Walter White.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Funny you should mention that...I'm kind of doing a video playing off his line of work

[@StuffandThings_]

@@LabCoatz_Science 🤨

[@veridico84]

Great video. Im so glad I subbed a while back

[@yoctoflop]

My poor roommate just received my delivery of n butyl isocyanide because I'm out of state right now. He said it was absolutely vile, made his stomach turn, and smells like "maybe overheated rusted tar aluminum". It's still in the envelope. He literally had to find a place outside to keep it

[@AB-80X]

Where did you buy that?

[@bovanshi6564]

The madlad is at it again!

[@MaryBruflat]

Found you through NileRed, and I'm sure glad to do so.

[@rouvenr1414]

Great video! For synthesizing primary amines one might look at the Delepine reaction. Haloalkanes react with hexamine (aka urotropine) to form primary amines. Hexamine is quite easy to obtain from fuel tablets at least in Europe. Keep up the great work, I really enjoy all of your videos! :)

[@AB-80X]

I believe Hexamine is now regulated, after it was discovered that Syria uses it as an acid scavenger in its Sarin.

[@mrgreenguy]

Doing chemistry in a car scares me haha, nice vid!

[@BarryMckinney-1981]

Orry about your sample. The video was awesome 👌

[@slyscafe]

Love all the OU love - makes me feel right back home

[@derchromebacher4366]

Entertaining video, give your old man a medal for putting up with your stinky stuff.

[@Jellyfishiess]

Hes just collecting bad smells like infinity stones now

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

ive happened to have the stupid idea to make phenyl isonitrile on a tiny scale because it supposedly smells bad and yeah i can vouch it smells bad, it simply just is horrible. i agree with the descriptions you and your friends gave, burning sharp odor like plastic/burning fat and an organic smell sorta like seaweed/fish (pyridine imo), the worst part is smelling it leaves a horrific taste in your mouth. a chemist i know told me that a coworker used to work with isonitrile chemistry and the drawer they used for storage still stinks XD ive made thioacetone and yeah isonitriles are simply worse overall

[@marcusrobinson1778]

Glad I finally got to see this happen

[@chrisjones-fp5vd]

Great video, so interesting

[@technoman9000]

Great video keep it up

[@notmyname327]

Haha why would you synthesize this *in a car*?! Props to everyone involved, really entertaining stuff

[@LabCoatz_Science]

We needed power for the hotplate and didn't have an extension cord long enough to reach the nearby camping tables...and we also didn't want anyone watching and thinking we were cooking meth or something, lol

[@larry_k]

You might have heard of gas mask. It is a thing that filters out various chemicals from air you breath. Could be a good idea to use while performing such syntheses ;)

[@theRPGmaster]

You might not be able to find filters for isocyanides. The military ones are generally pretty good at filtering out smells, in my experience, but that'll depend on the chemical.

[@hadeoxdc4312]

that kills the purpose of the video of testing the smells oh so smart one

[@larry_k]

If the goal was to smell all the chemicals involved in synthesis, including byproducts, in uncontrolled way, then yes, sure@@hadeoxdc4312

[@AB-80X]

@@hadeoxdc4312 Not really. You can wear PPE while you're working, and then remove it or the testing.

[@Esterified80]

Very intresting. It would be also intresting to make a closed space test and maybe also make cyclohexyl isocyanide, benzyl isocyanide and ethyl isocyanoacetate (from glycine probably) 2. Phosphines would be your next boss

[@noodlelynoodle.]

The way the phenyl isocyanide was being described is pretty much the exact way people describe the smell of DMT smoke, a lot of people say it's like burning plastic/rubber/garbage but with organic components to it, it's never smelled bad to me personally and I get more of a jasminey kinda fresh plastic power tool case smell from it usually when I've smelled it when someone's smoking it at a concert but for a lot of people they can't stand the smell whatsoever and this is the only thing I've ever heard the smell described in a similar way

[@nicknorthcutt7680]

DMT doesn't smell too bad, I've smoked it many times. It has an interesting smell but nothing too bad tbh.

[@noodlelynoodle.]

@@nicknorthcutt7680 when smoking it I feel like it smells different to how it does when other people are smoking it just like how weed and tobacco are but dmt has always smelled amazing to me regardless of who's smoking it, part of it could be people who are inexperienced and are actually burning it rather than carefully vaporizing it with a lighter and so they're smelling a harsher version cause they're destroying it rather than just vaporizing it

[@MultipleObjectSelector]

It smells like burning rubber when it is burned rather than vaporized.

[@GermanMythbuster]

*Pure distilled Genius at Display in this Video.* 🤩 👍 I Vote he gets the Chemistry Nobel Prize! 👍

[@davidhudgens499]

WOW!!!! 1st thank you for sending me this sample, 2nd 🖕🫵 for sending me this sample! Holy Shit that was WAAAYYYY worse than the last one. Honestly I stopped by my mailbox on the way to work today, my plan was to take this sample to work and have them try it like the last one. As soon as I got it out of the mailbox (STILL SEALED in the package) I could smell the HORRIBLE 🤢🤮 burnt rubber/plastic chemical smell. THERE WAS NO WAY I was going to put it in my car let alone take it to work. So when I got off work I got it out of my mailbox, (smelled the package again) 🤢 and directly threw it away in an outside garage can. WOW, you truly have out done yourself. I really believe if someone would leave this in a building, they would evacuate it, seriously! I don’t think I will be getting any more samples from you. But, I very much enjoy your videos and hope you continue! 👍👍

[@TheCaptainLulz]

The best source of readily available tin is at a sporting goods store. They are trying to (and have in some places) remove lead from fishing, so sinkers are made of either steel or tin now. Its pretty easy to tell the two apart.

[@nfrandom3701]

I look forward to your attempt at making the Tellurium analog of Thioacetone to complete the sink family

[@LabCoatz_Science]

You know I will! Not sure how that'll go though...I know I'll be able to make/test some tellurols, but a tellurone like telluroacetone might be too unstable to exist (especially in the presence of atmospheric oxygen). I'll certainly try though!

[@Matoro342]

You are a champion of truth. Time for non lethal taste tests.

[@the1only467]

I hate that burning plastic smell. Not plastic burning but that chemical smell that duplicates it but much worse. Burns the nostrils and makes you choke. Good job on your creations my guy. Your father’s description is so perfect.

[@lloydevans2900]

You can use zinc for the nitrobenzene reduction step too - and that should be a bit easier to get hold of than tin, tends to work a bit better than either iron or tin, and isn't magnetic like iron. In fact I first did the nitrobenzene to aniline reduction in A-level chemistry at school, about 25 years ago.

[@manganstein3310]

I was working with isocyanides on my PhD and this is the best description of the smell I come up with: “what if the sweet smell could be bad” but this smell isn’t similar to any other group of compounds. In the synthesis of isocyanides the best method I found was dehydratation of formamides with tosyl chloride in quinoline (which kind of stinks itself), but isocyanide vacuum distilled (remember liquid nitrogen trap!) from solution is almost pure (95%, over 99.9% after additional distillation) and yield is usually over 80%. The methods that require extraction and evaporation of solvent works only on very non-volatile isocyanides, in other cases most of the product evaporates with solvents and leftover is still contaminated. Glassware after synthesis of isocyanides can be easy clean by let is sit in diluted acids, it takes usually 1-2days but isocyanide will completely hydrolysed and smell will disappeared.

[@if860]

Maybe try sodium dithionite someday as a reducing agent to make aniline? I haven't tried making aniline with it, as in my country you can buy aniline as an OTC reagent (and you cannot buy HNO3 and H2SO4 which makes nitrobenzene harder to obtain), but it works very well with toluidines, xylidines, and luminol.

[@Mosern1977]

This is great, but we need a reference that we can buy in the store: Swedish Surströmming. Please open that, and put it on the chart, so we know what you have here.

[@untitled6578]

Thanks for this! I remember asking for isocyanides on your selenoacetone video. Sadly I live outside the US so can't get a sample :( Phosphines next?

[@christopherleubner6633]

Most isocyanide chemicals smell like hot rubber combined with an acrid burning plastic like smell. Actually you can use the stirrer's magnet itself to stirr the steel wool around in the flask.

[@dwaynezilla]

A lot of smells have a weird perception response in the sense that low levels end up smelling good. Sort of like how skatole (like scat as in poop) smells flowery in low concentrations; to the point where it's used in some perfumes. Apparently some mercaptans have this feature as well.

[@KyussTheWalkingWorm]

One thing that gets missed in discussions about foul chemical smells is that the worst ones don't come from isolated compounds. Decayed organic materials, autoclave stench and military malodors get a good deal of their offensiveness from the fact that they present a rich "bouquet" of smells. Likewise, pure organosulfurs are unpleasant, but they really come into their own as part of a mixture, especially since every low MW sulfur compound stinks in its own way. You haven't lived until a grad student's experiment smells and tastes like the back of your throat got sprayed with aerosolised, burning carnivore shit.

[@darrena2625]

When you think yellow chemistry is bad. Green chemistry.....hold ma beer, son, watch this.

[@rendrachandra7815]

great science channel!

[@davidtappe5337]

Your biggest challenge was iron, steel wool. Bechamp reduction was cool.

[@SimonBlokky]

I've worked with these chemicals for a few months and they are, to this day, the worst things I've ever smelled. My supervisor would sometimes hold a flask under my nose as an 'analytical test' for the presence of these horrible smelling compounds. It may sound funny, but I'd rather be kicked in my nuts than smell one of those chemicals in those quantities ever again. Obviously, I quit my job there. Even when I smell the slightest whiff on the lab where I'm working now, I get traumas from isocyanides. Maybe the best description of the isocyanide smell, just like you mention in your first reactions in this video, is that you don't smell these compounds with your nose: you feel them in your nose, throat, sinuses and lungs. Thanks for sharing this video, and I'm glad you found your stench champion.... eventhough I hope there is an even worse smelling chemical waiting for you in the future :)

[@imstupid880]

My city recently had an odor blanket it that sounded oddly similar to the isocyanides, a foul mixture of burning rubber and burning plastic with an odd organic undertone. Called the fire department and they were able to get it sorted out, but never did find out what the cause was or where it came from.

[@Dee-nonamnamrson8718]

Are you in Oklahoma? That's crazy. Your budy's shirt is missing an S between the O and U on his shirt, and the color is all wrong. My hometown is just like 30 minutes east of you.

[@MAINTMAN73]

I absolutely applied your efforts! It would be really interesting to explain to a sheriff state trooper or park ranger what you all were doing on the back of your car. I could see some ill-informed cock is powerful enough to start arresting people for a mobile meth lab because he saw glassware and isn't informed enough to know anything about chemistry.

[@enricomontanari1390]

Besides the super interesting experiment, can we just appreciate for a moment how much of a boss your dad is?

[@dwaynezilla]

I wonder how having the compounds in an enclosed space would change the smell intensity. You'd be able to get higher concentrations, I imagine.

[@andrewfabian4773]

Dude. Well played.

[@skyethebi]

10:47 I love how it feels like he’s listing his qualifications for a job interview.

[@NickHaus683]

It’s 3 days after thanksgiving 2023 and I think this guy needs to smell what I’m cooking

[@PotooBurd]

Dad is the real MVP, also please send some to NileRed :D

[@donaldhoot7741]

The fight over stinkiest continues! Love it! Stink on!

[@JustinKoenigSilica]

LabCoatz but no LabGoggles whyyyy

[@Rikketick]

Love these series 👍🏻 the worst smell I've ever smelled, unborn manure, from the slaughterhouse. Couldn't get used to it either, retch tendencies. 🤮

[@sondrayork6317]

These chemicals you are describing are some that I have never heard of. I bet they really do reek.

[@nollie_ollie8358]

This reminded me about my one experience with DMT. DMT has an aweful taste and smell when heated. I know firsthand. Its like if you went into a bike shop and sniffed the new bike tires but combined that with tonsil stones and fish. One of the most unpleasent and nauseating odors ive encountered honestly.

[@TACTICALwaffle2]

That was my first thought when he was describing it, based on my experiences. I’m going to order a sample so I can see how close it is

[@nollie_ollie8358]

@TACTICALwaffle2 yeah you should I'd be interested to hear back if you do how close it is and what differences in scent profile it has. We are some drug sommeliers 😂

[@untitled6578]

​@@TACTICALwaffle2any updates? i'm curious if they smell similar

[@MandrakeFernflower]

you can buy phenethylamine HCL in supplement shops - freebase it and make phenethyl isocyanide?

[@michaelbell8834]

Yea, Butyl compounds tend to have that effect. Add an isocyanide to that precursor, and it's just a poor match for humans.

[@peepeepoopoo.]

So I'm curious, one day, I had some permanent marker with the casing made of metal, like a sharpie, but a european brand, and it had a plastic wrapper glued around it, like that showed the brand name and instructions, I ripped the wrapping and it was just the bare metal and some remnants of glue, and it smelled horrible, really really bad, and the odor was actually pretty much how you and especially how your dad described the smell of those chemicals, so I wonder if, for some reason they put some sort of isocyanide for some reason in there. Probably not but I'm curious now

[@Stuie444]

Got my shipment! *Holy mother of god and all that is holy* Why did I ever think that was a good idea?! ;-) Heated it up and - INSTANT regret. My friends and I - nay - they entire neighborhood will not forget that anytime soon. lmfao

[@lilac_hem]

absolute mad lads

[@Girvo747]

“I was only successful in reducing my yield” god that’s relatable lol

[@camj4631]

you can use saccarin for the Gabriel synthesis as well

[@ChrisWilson999]

Would isocyanate be useful to synthesize this stuff? Two part closed cell foam uses this for one of the parts.

[@geoffcalleeney8403]

60% of the Time, It Works Every Time!

[@dimsum435]

Donkey's years ago I had the opportunity to smell 'skatol', (I think that's how it is spelled) . It's essence of urine, apparently used by perfumers. It was in a glass bottle inside another glass bottle and it still took five minutes of scrubbing to get the smell of piss off my fingers.

[@cooldude7301]

Skatole smells like poop not urine

[@morpheus6979]

The lab in The car is awesome haha. Give me breaking Bad vibes

[@Wolfsheim23]

Sounds more like the effects of a bad gas, rather than a bad smell as much. The noxiousness, like something in the military in Boot Camp but i doubt it's near that noxious.

[@christopherleubner6633]

For tertiary butyl alcohol to amine, the easiest is to react with nitric acid with the tbu in excess. Then reduce with aluminum foil with a touch of mercuric chloride to activate it. Forms aluminum oxide and tbu amine. It smells awful

[@Neeshtyak]

The most offensive odour I've ever dealt with was thiophosgene. Surprisingly, butadiene also has a strong and unpleasant odour, due to the two conjugated double bonds. According to this I recommend to try to synthesise: CN-CH=CH-C(=S)-Cl from NH2-CH=CH-C(S)-H with the help of 3phosgene. I think this would be the most disgusting and offensive odour imaginable. PS: 3F can be obtained by chlorination of dimethyl carbonate in the presence of iodine.

[@burnttoast0402]

I got flashbacks when yout friend smelled the Tert-butly isocyanide

[@aaronmargolit161]

I did PhD work with isocyanides and interestingly my lab mates and I agree that although isocyanides smell bad it's still bearable and we all agreed amines and thiols smell infinitely worse and we often used bleach and other precautions to stop the smell.

[@Mutantcy1992]

A little concerned that the opening shot has two people eye level with what looks like a boiling solution in a test tube and, despite the channel name, no PPE on one and gloves only on the other. Eye protection is worth it!

[@Kiw88d]

Amazing!