Hyacinth aroma

The compound gives a powerful hyacinth aroma for floral fragrances. Hydrogenation provides dihydrocinnamyl alcohol, which has a sweet and floral odor. Up to now, the usual method of preparation of the latter was by hydrogenation of cin-namaldehyde [157]. 

Of the significant odor-active compounds observed in brine samples, only cis- and fran -4-hexenoic acids and phenyl ethyl alcohol (or phenyl acetaldehyde, an oxidation product of phenyl ethyl alcohol) were present in all brine samples tested. (Note Phenyl acetaldehyde has a fioral/lilac/hyacinth aroma.) Therefore, these highly odiferous chemicals are likely to be key impact-odor components of fermented cucumbers. This was confirmed by detection frequency olfactometry experiments and by recombination studies. 

Uses. Cinnamic alcohol is valuable in perfumery for its odor and fixative properties. It is a component of many flower compositions (lilac, hyacinth, and lily of the valley) and is a starting material for cinnamyl esters, several of which are valuable fragrance materials. In aromas, the alcohol is used for cinnamon notes and for rounding off fruit aromas. It is used as an intermediate in many syntheses (e.g., for pharmaceuticals such as the antibiotic Chloromycetin). 

The conversion of styrene oxides 1 (Eq. 15.2.1) yields phenylacetaldehydes 2 which can be used as fragrances with hyacinth or rose odors. Furthermore, phenylacetaldehyde represents a valuable intermediate for the production of other more stable acetals with honey aroma (glycolacetale), with sweet leaf odour (diethylacetale) or with tangy smell (dipentylacetale). In addition,... 

Spring also provides fantastic fragrances Just after winter, one can smell the heavenly aroma of violets and hyacinths, sometimes the subtle scent of bird cherry is brought by the wind from far... 

This material is often used as an additive to impart a pleasant fragrance to soaps, since it has a very pleasant aroma, similar to that of hyacinth. It is not, however, a naturally occurring material. As a nice illustration of the fact that stereoisomeric compounds can have markedly different physiological effects, it has been demonstrated that a single diastereomer, frans-2 -bromostyrene, is responsible for the hyadnth-like odor. 

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