Cyclooctane, odor

Clear, oily, flammable liquid with a faint odor resembling cyclohexane, cyclooctane, or gasoline. 

Research suggests that the odor of a particular molecule is determined more by its shape than by the presence of a particular functional group. For example, hexachloroethane (CI3CCCI3) and cyclooctane have no obvious structural similarities, but they both have a camphor-like odor, a fact attributed to their similar spherical shape. Each molecule binds to spherically shaped olfactory receptors present on the nerve endings in the nasal passage, resulting in similar odors (Figure 5.13). 

Cyclooctane and other molecules similar in shape bind to a particular olfactory receptor on the nerve cells that lie at the top of the nasal passage. Binding results in a nerve impulse that travels to the brain, which interprets impulses from particular receptors as specific odors. 

You can verify quickly that compounds with molecules of roughly similar shape have similar odors if you compare nitrobenzene and acetophenone with ben-zaldehyde or d-camphor and hexachloroethane with cyclooctane. Each group of substances has the same basic odor type (primary), but the individual molecules differ in the quality of the odor. Some of the odors are sharp, some pungent, others sweet, and so on. The second group of substances all have a camphoraceous odor, and the molecules of these substances all have approximately the same shape. 

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ , ]

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