Monolayers of this deuterated version of 1-dodecanethiol are ideal for use as background samples for methods such as FTIR. Using a deuterated molecule shifts the methylene stretches so that a clean background subtraction for monolayer spectra can be obtained. Other techniques that benefit from having a deuterated derivative include DSC and NMR (E. Gerand, P.A. Rowntree J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 12927-12934; E. Gerand, et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 8182-8289; A. Badia, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 2682-2692).