Bitter Living Through Organic Chemistry
Today, I’d like to take the opportunity to give the shout out to two chemical compounds which are distinguished by their bitterness.
The first, N-benzyl-2-(2,6-dimethylphenylamino)-N,N-diethyl-2-oxoethanaminium benzoate, is the bitterest-tasting stuff known to science. Dilutions of N-benzyl-2-(2,6-dimethylphenylamino)-N,N-diethyl-2-oxoethanaminium benzoate to less than ten parts per million in water will still taste excrutiatingly bitter to humans.
N-benzyl-2-(2,6-dimethylphenylamino)-N,N-diethyl-2-oxoethanaminium benzoate is better known as Denatonium. Its effectiveness against superheroes has not yet been established.
The second compound, Phenylthiocarbamide, is a bitter chemical made chiefly remarkable by the fact that about a third of the population cannot taste it.
Reference: L. Kameswaran, S. Gopalakrishnan, M. Sukumar, (1974). Phenylthiocarbamide and Naringin Taste Threshold in South Indian Medical Students, Ind. J. Pharmac., 6 (3). 134-140.