Perfumes history

The Chemistry of Fragrances, by D. H. Pybus and C. S. Sell, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 1999, contains all the amateur needs to know on the subject. Additionally, the site http //www.eau-de-cologne.com (in German) describes the history of the perfume, and the site http //www.farinal709.com contains additional information for the interested novice. 

The chemicals featured in the behavior of many organisms also touch our own lives in important ways. They provide a sizable fraction of modern medicines, as well as perfumes, pesticides, and other products ranging from textiles to glue. Some of these chemicals have been in use for thousands of years and have intriguing histories. Others offer ways to save threatened environments all affect our own lives, and some do so profoundly. 

Terpenoid alcohols appeared early in the history of synthetic perfumery because several were readily available from inexpensive essential oils. Alpha-terpineol, citronellol and linalool shown in Figure 7 are important constituents of pine stump oil, citro-nella oil and rosewood oil, respectively. The fourth material listed, hydroxycitronellal, is a hydroxy aldehyde which perhaps has a questionable place in this discussion. It is included because it is one of the most important fragrance chemicals used today. "Hydroxy" is almost a perfume unto itself. Its soft flowery, linden blossom odor blends very well in many floral perfumes. 

Although the aliphatic aldehydes had been used in a number of earlier perfumes, their dominance (a total of nearly 1%) in Chanel No. 5 marked a milestone in the history of perfumery, and the combination of materials that make up the central accord of the perfume remains one of the most unmistakable, being used also for the perfuming of many types of functional products, from toiletries to room fresheners, where the relative chemical instability of the vanillin (or ethyl vanillin) and the aliphatic aldehydes does not present too much of a problem. 

For a perfumer a rare and great challenge is to be confronted with a new material, one that has as yet no known history of perfumery use. It may be a newly synthesized aroma chemical or a material derived from a not commercially cultivated plant. 

What is surprising is that the perfumers who are the explorers and discoverers rarely get the recognition they deserve, even within their profession. The survey of the contributions of new synthetic materials to the history of perfumery which was prepared by the Technical Commission of the Societe des Parfumeurs de France names, for each of some 50 materials cited, the chemists who first synthesized it. The perfumers who first incorporated these materials in a successful perfume are named in less than ten cases. 

The person who has the ambition to achieve great things for humankind should not become a perfumer. Successes in perfumery may yield considerable financial rewards and may lead to recognition within a small circle of professionals. But from the perspective of human history they are insignificant. 

D. H. Pybus, The History of Aroma Chemistry and Perfume. In The Chemistry of Fragrances From Perfumer to Consumer, 2nd ed. C. Sell, Ed. The Royal Society of Chemistry Cambridge, 2006 pp 3-23. 

Table A2 illustrates essentially what the perfume-ethanol-water mix is in a fragrance bottle, denoted by its description. Figure A1 traces the historical growth of alchemical tradition from the five main centres of civilization through 5000 years of history to the present.

F. Kennett, Richard Howard translation, A History of Perfume, Maynard, 1975. 

Beginning with the history of perfumes, which goes back over fifty thousand years, the book goes on to discuss the structure of the Perfume Industry today. The focus then turns to an imaginary brief to create a perfume, and the response to it, including that of the chemist and the creative perfumer. Consumer research, toxicological concerns, and the use of the electronic nose are some of the topics discussed on this journey of discovery. 

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