Research Article Open Access

Relationships between Smell, Carbon Number, and Molecular Structure of Acetate Esters

Abstract

Acetate esters, a group of substances found in natural fragrances and perfumes, are formed by the dehydration-condensation of acetic acid and alcohol and are known to have a variety of good smells. However, the regularity with which these smells change depending on the combination with the raw alcohol is not well understood yet. In order to investigate this, six alcohols with carbon numbers between 2 and 4 and phenol were used to synthesize and classify the smells and the relationship between the smell of acetate esters, carbon number and molecular structure was compared. The results showed that the smell of acetate esters changes with changes in carbon number and with changes in molecular structure. These findings are discussed with respect to molecular polarization and human olfaction mechanisms.

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