Fragrance chemistry history from Givaudan
Work is slow today, so I decided to do some light reading in the form of a 2001 journal article by Givaudan scientists.
Chemistry was a long time ago for me, so some parts did not fully register, but here are some of my favorite tidbits.
- Nitro musks were discovered in the late nineteenth century as a byproduct of researching new explosives. Albert Baur, the Michael Bay in question, later developed Musk Ketone, which closely resembles Tonkin musk.
- The synthetic polycyclic musk Phantolide was so named because, upon going to market, its chemical structure was still unknown.
- Georgywood is named for its creator Georg Fráter. (Wanting to know if Georgywood was named for a George is the whole reason I stumbled upon this article. I was elated to learn this.)
- Eugenol, among other scent molecules, can be used as a bactericide in large enough quantities! Good news for the oversprayers among us.
- The authors noted how household and cleaning products generally used to draw inspiration from fine perfumery, but that the tide seemed to be turning toward consumers wanting more fragrances that smelled fresh and clean or like 'them.' I found this fascinating considering the ubiquity of the skin scent and "clean boy/girl" scents today.
I'm sure the Givaudan guys are bringing their own biases into the picture - I'm wary of academic articles from industry members in general - but this was genuinely enjoyable to read.
If you check the article out, let me know which parts resonate with you.
Chemistry was a long time ago for me, so some parts did not fully register, but here are some of my favorite tidbits.
- Nitro musks were discovered in the late nineteenth century as a byproduct of researching new explosives. Albert Baur, the Michael Bay in question, later developed Musk Ketone, which closely resembles Tonkin musk.
- The synthetic polycyclic musk Phantolide was so named because, upon going to market, its chemical structure was still unknown.
- Georgywood is named for its creator Georg Fráter. (Wanting to know if Georgywood was named for a George is the whole reason I stumbled upon this article. I was elated to learn this.)
- Eugenol, among other scent molecules, can be used as a bactericide in large enough quantities! Good news for the oversprayers among us.
- The authors noted how household and cleaning products generally used to draw inspiration from fine perfumery, but that the tide seemed to be turning toward consumers wanting more fragrances that smelled fresh and clean or like 'them.' I found this fascinating considering the ubiquity of the skin scent and "clean boy/girl" scents today.
I'm sure the Givaudan guys are bringing their own biases into the picture - I'm wary of academic articles from industry members in general - but this was genuinely enjoyable to read.
If you check the article out, let me know which parts resonate with you.
edited 3 days ago
