Encyclopedia – Knowledge for Perfumers
Encyclopedia – Knowledge for Perfumers
More than specifications: origin, chemistry, patent history and role in the formula – for every material in our range that deserves its own reference page.
Fundamentals
- Patent Library – the verified patents behind our aroma materials: inventors, applicants, dates and status
- Fixative or Solvent – four mechanisms behind one word, two contradictory patents from 1978 and 1979, and why DPG, IPM, DEP and TEC are not fixatives
Single aroma molecules
- Ambrofix™ – Ambroxan alternative by Givaudan
- ISO E Super® – one of the most widely used woody-amber molecules in contemporary perfumery
- Timbersilk™ – the quiet sibling of ISO E Super, registered as the gamma isomer
- Sylvamber™ – woody-amber building block by dsm-firmenich, upcycled from paper-industry turpentine
- Norlimbanol® – dry woody-amber molecule from 1986, around one week on the blotter
- Exaltolide® Total – macrocyclic musk (cyclopentadecanolide), solid, around two weeks on the blotter
- Benzaldehyde DD – bitter almond-cherry aldehyde by Symrise, top note for gourmand and stone-fruit accords
- Coumarone – tonka ketone by Symrise (2-acetylbenzofuran), balsamic-powdery, not coumarin
- Ambroxan – all versions compared
- Ambrox® Super – the pure (−)-enantiomer from the original house, and the receptor OR7A17
- Ambroxide Cryst. – Ambroxan from Holzminden: the molecule without a name
- Ambrettolide – natural musk substitute from ambrette seeds
- Ambermax™ – concentrated amber note by Givaudan
- Oxyoctaline Formate – the quiet main ingredient behind Black Agar
- Javanol™ – the most powerful sandalwood molecule, with a rosy facet
- Ebanol™ – synthetic sandalwood with over three decades of market history
- Sandalore™ – sandalwood molecule with hair-growth research (OR2AT4)
- Velvione – the musk behind perhaps the first single-molecule perfume in history
- Hedione® – the transparent jasmine molecule behind Eau Sauvage
- Helvetolide® – upcycled musk with over 50% renewable carbon
- Helional® – green-floral cyclamen molecule by IFF
- Rum Acetal – the boozy top-note accent for gourmand accords
- Isobutavan – color-stable vanillin ester with a creamy character
- Silvanone Supra – dosage-dependent macrocyclic musk
- Methyl Laitone – the powerful spiro-lactone with a coconut-milk character
- Paradisamide™ – tropical-fruity grapefruit molecule by Givaudan
- Hedione® HC – the cis-enriched Hedione isomer, and the race between the houses for it
- Habanolide® – a 1989 patent, a structural twin at a competitor and contradictory environmental data
- Globalide® – the musk that, according to its maker, never occurred in nature
- Galaxolide (HHCB) – IFF's clean “fresh laundry” musk, since 1965
Natural extracts
- Labdanum – the natural amber from the resin of the rockrose (Cistus ladaniferus)
- Tobacco Absolute Low Nico – South African tobacco leaf, practically nicotine-free, with damascenone as the link to rose
Solvents & carriers
- Glucam™ P-20 – physical fixative, humectant and solubilizer
- Fixative or Solvent – DPG, IPM, DEP and TEC compared directly, and why low volatility alone is not enough
Fragrance accords & bases
- Bergamot Givco 104/5 – bergamot base without furocoumarins, and why that makes the difference
- CHOCOVAN™ AB 7244C – cocoa-vanilla accord
- Ultrazur™ – marine freshness around the captive molecule Azurone
- Black Agar Givco 215/2 – oud reconstruction base with Oxyoctaline Formate and Ebanol™
- Green Tea Givco 228 – dry green-tea-leaf base with a hidden architecture
- THE 71795 SA – black tea base by Firmenich, built from a fruity ester and ionones
Comparisons & guides
- Fixative or Solvent – what fragrance fixation really is
- Synthetic sandalwood: Sandalore vs Ebanol – which molecule for what
- Musk molecules compared – poly-, macro- and alicyclic
- The marine accord: Calone, Helional & Ultrazur – building the sea note
- Build your own oud: Black Agar, Oxyoctaline, Ebanol & Labdanum – the oud reconstruction
- Building gourmand accords: vanilla, cocoa & rum – edible-smelling scents
- Woody-amber: ISO E Super, Amberfleur & Ambermax – the woody base of compositions
Stories & background
- CHOCOVAN™ & Morinaga – the Japanese chocolate story behind the cocoa-vanilla accord
- Ultrazur™ & Shiokaze – marine freshness and Japanese poetry
- Helvetolide® & the Staatsmijnen – from mining by-product to musk molecule
- Kehai – molecular perfumery and Japanese aesthetics
- Aalsmeer – the scentless rose and the world's largest flower auction
- Kōdō & Black Agar Givco – Japanese incense culture and the reconstruction of agarwood (in Japanese)
- Hedione & the pheromone receptor – what the research really shows
- Edmond Roudnitska – the perfumer-philosopher and Hedione (in French)
- Ambrox – the molecule born by accident (in French)
- ISO E Super & Molecule 01 – what lies behind the one-molecule perfume
- The Ambroxan story – from ambergris to sugarcane
- Trésor & Galaxolide – the gamble of dosing a musk at 21% (in French)
- Muus Beets – the chemist behind Helional (in French)
- Sylvaine Delacourte & Ambrettolide – the “champagne of raw materials” (in French)
- From coal mine to Hedione – the story of DSM (in Dutch)
- The tulip as national scent – the Netherlands in the 1999 World Sensorium (in Dutch)
- IFF Hilversum – from Ambermor to the scent of Euro 1988 (in Dutch)
- De Oprechte Hollandsche Civet – Amsterdam’s 17th-century civet monopoly (in Dutch)
- Garmt Dijksterhuis – why an aroma chemical is not yet a scent (in Dutch)
- Ichigo ichie – Sen no Rikyū, the tea ceremony and Green Tea Givco 228 (in Japanese)