Gamma nonalctone molecule molecola symrise Scentspiracy aldehyde c18
Gamma nonalctone vial fiala text symrise Scentspiracy
Gamma nonalctone molecule molecola symrise Scentspiracy aldehyde c18
Gamma nonalctone vial fiala text symrise Scentspiracy

Gamma Nonalactone (Aldehyde C18)

from €7.80

Premium Synthetic Ingredient for Perfumery

Gamma-Nonalactone (Aldehyde C-18) is a high-impact synthetic lactone with an intense coconut-like aroma, widely used across perfumery and flavor applications. Despite its common trade name, it is not an aldehyde but a γ-lactone, offering creamy, musky, fruity warmth. It serves as a sweet, tropical enhancer in white florals and Oriental bases, with notable persistence and volume. Careful dosage is essential due to its tenacious character.

Size:

Premium Synthetic Ingredient for Perfumery

Gamma-Nonalactone (Aldehyde C-18) is a high-impact synthetic lactone with an intense coconut-like aroma, widely used across perfumery and flavor applications. Despite its common trade name, it is not an aldehyde but a γ-lactone, offering creamy, musky, fruity warmth. It serves as a sweet, tropical enhancer in white florals and Oriental bases, with notable persistence and volume. Careful dosage is essential due to its tenacious character.

Synthetic Ingredient Overview

  • 🔎 Chemical Name: γ-Nonalactone

  • 🧪 Synonyms: Aldehyde C-18, Coconut Lactone

  • 🧬 Chemical Formula: C₉H₁₆O₂

  • 📂 CAS N°: 104-61-0

  • 📘 FEMA: 2783

  • ⚖️ MW: 156.22 g/mol

  • ♨️ Vapor Pressure (25 °C): ~1.18 × 10⁻² mm Hg (est.)

  • 📝 Odor Type: Fruity (Coconut)

  • 📈 Odor Strength: Medium-strong, with extreme longevity (approx. 300 hrs on blotter)

  • 👃🏼 Odor Profile: Intense coconut, creamy, fruity in high dilution, soft floral-musk undercurrent

  • 👅 Flavor Profile: Coconut, sweet nutty, used in fruit and dessert-type flavors

  • ⚗️ Uses: Floral volume builder, lactonic booster in white florals, coconut flavor agent, fixative

  • 🧴 Appearance: Colorless to pale yellow liquid

What is Gamma-Nonalactone?

Gamma-Nonalactone, often mistakenly referred to as “Aldehyde C-18,” is a γ-lactone — a cyclic ester — derived from nonanoic acid. Despite the name confusion, it is chemically distinct from aldehydes. First reported in the 1920s and widely used since the 1950s, it became a staple in perfumery for its tropical, creamy, and long-lasting coconut character.

Structurally, it is a medium-sized ring lactone with significant volatility and diffusiveness for a base note compound. Its intense sweetness and tropical warmth allow it to function as both a fruity top enhancer and a long-wearing base material.

Olfactory Profile & Perfumery Applications

Gamma-Nonalactone adds unmistakable coconut warmth to both floral and Oriental compositions. Its use must be measured carefully: while trace amounts yield a creamy sweetness, even moderate overdosing can overpower compositions with lactonic heaviness.

Notable applications:

  • White Floral Bases: Enhances Gardenia, Jasmine, Tuberose, Honeysuckle, Plumeria

  • Oriental & Musky Accords: Used with Sandalwood, Styrax, Musk, and Undecanolide

  • Coconut Accords: Core component in beachy tropical profiles

  • Fixative Role: Contributes depth and longevity to fruity and creamy blends

Typical usage levels range between 0.01% and 0.3% in fine fragrance. In functional applications (candles, soaps), levels may be adjusted for thermal or surfactant resistance.

Industrial & Technical Uses

  • Fine Fragrance: Coconut-floral accords, exotic sweet notes, solar blends

  • Functional Fragrance: Long-lasting odor masking in detergents, personal care

  • Flavor Use (FEMA 2783): Used at 10–50 ppm in tropical, coconut, cherry, or nut flavors

  • Industrial Synthesis: Key building block in lactonic structures, low-odor solvents

Regulatory & Safety Overview

  • IFRA Status (2023): No specific restrictions; evaluated as standard lactone

  • EU Allergens (1223/2009): Not among 26 declarable allergens

  • REACH: Registered

  • ECHA Classification: Not classified as hazardous

  • FEMA GRAS Status: FEMA No. 2783 — Approved for flavor use

  • Toxicology: Low acute toxicity; not sensitizing under controlled levels

✅ Safe under normal usage conditions. Overuse may cause cloying odor profiles; not phototoxic or carcinogenic under typical perfumery exposure.

Natural Occurrence

Gamma-Nonalactone has been reported in a wide variety of natural matrices, including:

  • Fruits: Peach, Apricot, Papaya, Guava, Currant, Strawberry, Raisin

  • Fermented Products: Rum, Whiskey, Wine, Sherry, Beer

  • Animalic Foods: Chicken, Pork, Beef fat, Butter, Cheese

  • Others: Camembert, Tomato, Soybean, Green Tea, Rice, Malt, Sweetgrass

Despite these occurrences, commercial use is almost entirely synthetic, due to isolation cost.

Production Methods

  • From Nonanoic Acid: Lactonization via acid catalysis

  • Via Hexanol + Methyl Acrylate: Free-radical route using di-tert-butylperoxide

  • From Undecylenic Acid + Malonic Acid: Alternate multi-step esterification

These routes allow scalable, cost-effective industrial supply for both flavor and fragrance use.

Sources

  • Symrise Technical Literature

  • Perfume and Flavor Chemicals – S. Arctander (1969)

  • Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients

  • Monographs on Fragrance Raw Materials – D. L. J. Opdyke (RIFM)

  • Leffingwell Chirality Database

  • PubChem – Compound CID 7792

  • Scentspiracy Internal Research – Fulvio Ciccolo (2024)

You Might Also Like