what is cedrol?

Synthetic Ingredient For Perfumery Overview

Cedrol is a sesquiterpene alcohol found in the essential oil of conifers (cedar oil), especially in the genera Cupressus (cypress) and Juniperus (juniper). It has also been identified in Origanum onites, a plant related to oregano. Its main uses are in the chemistry of aroma compounds. It makes up about 19% of cedarwood oil Texas and 15.8% of cedarwood oil Virginia.

Lower grades of Cedrol are viscous liquids, usually with crystalline deposit. 

Very faint odor (when pure, almost odorless) of Cedarwood type. A more “balsamic- sweet” odor is perceptible in low-grade Cedrols. 

Discovery

In public use since the 1930s. 

Profile:

📂 CAS N° 77-53-2

⚖️ MW — 222.37 g/mol

📝 Odor Type — Woody

📈 Odour Strength — Low, but tenacious

👃🏼 Odor Profile — Woody, cedar wood, dry, earthy, leathery forest undertones (F. Ciccolo at Scentspiracy, 2021)

⚗️ Uses — Used as a fixative for soaps, household product fragrances, detergent perfumes, industrial odors, etc ( S. Arctander, 1969)

However, the pure Cedrol is too expensive and yields too little odor to make it economic- ally feasible in such fragrances. The actual volume used of Cedrol in perfumes as such is rather small. 

Production — by isolation from Virginia Cedarwood oil followed by recrystallization.

Sources:

• Connolly, JD; Hill, RA, eds. (1991). Dictionary of Terpenoids. 1 Mono- and sesquiterpenoids. Chapman&Hall. SQ02555. ISBN 0-412-25770-X.

• Breitmeier, E (2006). Terpenes: flavors, fragrances, pharmaca, pheromones. Wiley-VCH. pp. 46–47. ISBN 3-527-31786-4.

• Susan Barclay-Nichols. "Point of Interest!". swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com.

• Perfume and flavor chemicals, S. Arctander, Denmark 1969. 

• Monographs on Fragrance Raw Materials , A Collection of Monographs originally appearing in Food and Cosmetics Toxicology An International Journal -- Edited by D. L. J. OPDYKE