Why Do Some CDRs Smell Like Almonds? 65
bertok asks: "I have several spindles of CD-Rs of various brands that I use at home and work, and some of them have a very strong almond odour when opened. Does anyone know what causes that? I know that Hydrogen Cyanide has a distinctive almond odour, but so does a range of other organic chemicals. Can any Slashdot readers with a chemistry background enlighten us as to the possible source of the smell?"
You are kidding right? (Score:1, Funny)
This is just another April fools right?
mmmm, cynanide laced CDs.
Those evil terrorists!
You ARE kidding right?
The smell is definitely real (Score:3, Informative)
When I open a new, shrinkwrapped (and therefore sealed) spindle of CDs, most brands have a strong smell that is very similar to that of almonds. It goes away if you leave the thing open for a while, but if you seal a spindle for a while, you can smell it a bit when you open it later. (Presumably, the scent is coming from some sort of decom
In Soviet Russia (Score:2, Funny)
It's a plot... (Score:2, Funny)
The flaw in their plan is that sales still won't go up cos they've just killed potential consumers!
Austin Powers 2! (Score:5, Funny)
To summarise, don't touch CDRs that smell of almonds. They are "not good". In fact, they will probably break your legs and cause you tremendous pain.
Thank God we can learn everything we need to know from the movies.
Re:Austin Powers 2! (Score:1)
Proof that given a sufficent lack of context, anything can be related to anything else.
Re:Austin Powers 2! (Score:2)
Lacquer (Score:2, Interesting)
because... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:because... (Score:3, Funny)
Simple (Score:2)
of those troublesome pirates.
I BELIEVE YOU! (Score:2, Funny)
More to the point.... (Score:2)
almonds. And people *eat* that stuff!
Re:More to the point.... (Score:3, Funny)
That's _exactly_ my point. Maybe the machines couldn't figure out what CDRs smell like. Maybe what you think CDRs smell like, really smells like almonds.
OSQ (Score:4, Funny)
Re:OSQ (Score:1)
Speaking of nuts ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Speaking of nuts ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Speaking of nuts ... (Score:1)
After 3 hours of painful surgery, the doctor made his point and I haven't thought of trying that again.
I hope your niece learned her lesson too.
I also hope she didn't get the nasty infection that I did.
Re:Speaking of nuts ... (Score:2)
my Linksys does (Score:2)
benzaldehyde (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.bartleby.com/65/be/benzalde.html
ht
Cyanide is used (Score:1)
Re:Cyanide is used (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.cdrplanet.com/dye-layer.html
I'm pretty sure its oderless, too.
Phew! (Score:2)
Bazman
Re:Cyanide is used (Score:1)
Re:Cyanide is used (Score:2, Informative)
Because RIAA wants to kill copiers (Score:2)
Or even CD writers.. All those mass produced without copy protection.. need to be gotten rid of somehow.
There is no cyanide. (Score:5, Informative)
Firstly, a cyano group is simply a carbon atom bonded to a nitrogen atom with a triple bond. In the term cyanide, the ide simply identifies the CN as an ion. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is the colorless, poisonous gas that may, or may not smell like almonds. (Go ahead...smell it.)
The blue dye you are thinking about is called cyanine, which is simply the common name for 1,1-diisoamyl-4,4-cyanine iodide.
If you go here [ogi.edu], you will see a structure of cyanine. The only nitrogen present in the chemical is firmly rooted in a benzine ring (called pyridine). It's not going anywhere, and there's certainly no cyanide.
Additionally, the other dye used in CDRs is called phthalocyanine. Structure here [ogi.edu]. As you can see, the molecule is circular and the CN groups are in rings and in bonds between the ring structures. No hydrogen cyanide will be evolved.
While this doesn't answer why CDRs smell like almonds after/while they are being burned (do they? I've never smelled that), it does cast away some of the misperceptions.
Re:There is no cyanide. (Score:1)
That was a little harsh, wasn't it? The submitter wasn't stating that the blue dye was HCN; you just read that into his words and got cranky about it. For all you know his CD-Rs aren't even the blue-dye kind. Perhaps you routinely hear some lame urban legend about confusion between HCN and cyanine, but that doesn't mean that everyone who asks about "almonds" and something blue is similarly confused and needs to be chastised as "spreading misinformation".
Re:There is no cyanide. (Score:1)
some cyanide facts... (Score:2)
you know, being able to smell cyanide is a genetic trait, and that bodies of people poisoned by it smell like bitter almond.
Some almond facts (Score:1)
Are bitter almonds edible? (Score:2)
Most bitter almond extract actually has more scary stuff in it - the gooey inner pits from apricots. Which also has cyanide in it. I guess that makes my favorite dessert something like fugu...
At least we're not taste-testers for the ricin factory...
Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:3, Informative)
What you smell is the common almond-food flavor (Dr.Pepper flavor)- benzaldehyde, most likely. They add this stuff into some furniture polish, too.
The other possible, very similar almond-smelling substances are nitrobenzene (poisonous) and benzonitrile.
I think it is some kind of solvent/paint additive which they use for printing the label on the CD, definitely not anything essential for the CD manufacture.
[And, cyanin is a non volatile dye and has nothing to do with cyanide - the name is similar because of the greek word cyanos=blue]
Re:Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:1)
You have this almondy flavour naturaly present in these fruits - you can notice it especialy in compots and juices, where the whole fruit is heat-processed - from the almond-like seed in the pit.
Re:Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:2)
Dr Pepper's flavor comes mostly from vanillin, which is similar to, but not quite the same as artifical almond. (We're talking organic chemistry, where a couple moved carbons can turn a safe sweet compound into a deadly poison -- this is why I'm a MechE and not a ChemE major!!). Vanillin is also used to flavor marshmallows.
Dr Pepper does not contain any prune compounds.
Don't get me started on Mr. Pibb......
Re:Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:2)
No shit? I think a couple of missing or rearranged bolts on a bridge would royally fuck things up too. So would rearranging a couple of different resistors on a motherboard. You know, things are usually the way they are for a reason.
Re:Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:2, Informative)
It's not free cyanide, it's in the compound amygdalin.
From the Poison Information Centre of Singapore [www.gov.sg]: Commonly occurs in the kernels of almonds, apricots, cherries, peaches, apples, as well as the stems, leaves and roots of many rose (Rosaceae) family species.. A cyanogenic glycoside compound. It is known that the hydrolysis of amygdalin can give rise to hydrogen cyanide.
Normally, the presence of amygdalin alone in
Re:Cyanide does not smell like almonds (Score:1)
I always thought benzonitrile smelled like Dentyne chewing gum.
This is the best AF article so far. (Score:2, Funny)
boss: What the hell are you doing?!?!
SDR: Ummm..Err..Uh..Quality control.
boss: Oh...Very well. Carry on then.
What a coincidence (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I love the smell (Score:1)
It smells like victory.
Re:I love the smell (Score:2)
Princo CD's (Score:2)
Why do some farts smell like dead animals? (Score:1)
"I have let serveral farts of various loudness at home and work, and some of them have a very strong dead animal odour when expelled. Does anyone know what causes that? I know that crap has a distinctive dead animal odour, but so does a range of other organic chemicals. Can any Slashdot readers with a chemistry background enlighten us as to the possible source of the smell?"
Ok, Now post this as aRe:Why do some farts smell like dead animals? (Score:1)
mine smell like.. (Score:1)
Hey (Score:1)