Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and/or mercaptan scavengers are chemicals that remove H2S and/or mercaptans from gas, oil and water. Water-based formulations may be made and used employing scavenging compounds having the formulae: wherein each R1, R2, R3, and R4 are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl, an alkenyl, an aryl, an acyl, a halogen, a hydroxyl, a nitro, an alkyl ester, an aryl ester, an alkyl ether, an aryl ether, a hydroxymethyl, an anhydride group, an amino, and a sulfide. In one non-limiting embodiment the compounds (A) and (B) do not contain nitrogen atoms. Water-based formulations, such as those using a protic solvent with the above compounds, work well as H2S scavengers.