Question

I was reading "The People's Pharmacy" in the Sunday News and Observer (Sept. 15, 2002). One of the questions asked had to do with someone noticing that when he ate asparagus, his urine had a peculiar odor. The answer was that asparagus produced mercaptan which caused the odor.

(a) Which functional group was responsible for the odorous excretion? (aldehyde, nitrile, alcohol, nitroalkane, amide, carboxylic acid, acyl halide, epoxide, thiol, ether, acid anhydride, ester, amine, formaldehyde, ketone)

(b) Select the element present in the functional group responsible for the odorous excretion? (As, N, O, F, I, Br, P, Se, S, Cl)

Please explain, if you can, as well

Answer 1

The answer was that asparagus produced mercaptan which caused the odor.

Mercaptan means -SH group.It is also called as Thiol.

b) Functional group of thiol contains S as one of the element, which is responsible for the peculiar odor of urine.