Synthetic raw materials

Modern perfumery was born at the end of the 19th century.
At that time, perfumers began to incorporate synthetic ingredients into their formulas, which amplified the palette of the professional, offering them more creativity. It also allows for more abstract olfactory forms. Today, chemists are able to isolate aromatic compounds from a natural raw material, purify them and obtain the molecular structure of the raw material. Once this structure is identified, the specialist will be able to use organic chemistry to recompose the molecules.

As pictorial art has acquired a new dimension with synthetic dyes, perfumery has reached new heights and has allowed new scents with synthetic products. 

Different synthetic raw materials

There are two types of synthetic raw materials.

On the one hand, there are materials obtained only by chemical reactions, such as esters, aldehyde, lactones, macrocyclic musks (white musks) or methylionones for violet notes, among others.

On the other hand, there are isolates from natural products, such as indole (found in jasmine), geraniol (found in rose or geranium), linalool (found in lavender and bergamot), vetiverol (from Haitian vetiver or java) and some musks (found in animal musk). The technique used is the fractionation of the essential oil. An isolate costs about twice the price of the corresponding essential oil.

There are products called hemi-synthesis which are made from isolates, they are even more expensive: for example, the natural linalool in isolate will be transformed into linalyl acetate.

Many synthetic raw materials are therefore constituents of natural products.

What does synthetic bring to perfumery?

The use of synthetic products in perfumery has many advantages.
The molecules of synthetic products bring attraction to the fragrances and facilitate the work of the perfumers.

1 - Creativity

Synthetic products, first of all, bring original notes to the perfume, such as aldehydes or marine notes, and give abstraction to the fragrances. They greatly enrich the perfumer's palette.
Indeed, there are approximately 3000 synthetic products and 1000 natural raw materials available to the perfumer. Another advantage of synthetic products is that they can be obtained at any time, in the desired quantities.

In addition, synthesis allows the perfumer to reproduce fragrant floral notes that are too fragile to be distilled, especially flowers that do not deliver their "soul", also called silent flowers (lily of the valley, lilac, freesia, lily, honeysuckle, gardenia, wisteria, peony, violet flower, etc.).

The synthetic materials make it possible to reproduce the smell of fruits whose essence is impossible to extract, such as strawberry (C16), peach (C14), coconut (C18), plum, raspberry (frambinone), etc. Even though the perfumer can now find more and more natural fruity notes.

2 - Tenacity

Synthetic molecules improve tenacity, bring power and wake to the fragrance.

3 - Natural notes are sublimated

Synthetic products sublimate natural notes. For example, to spice up natural vanilla with a gourmand note reminiscent of a pastry, they can add a synthetic ingredient, such as vanillin or ethyl-maltol, that has a caramel scent.

Thanks to research and advances in chemistry, we can now produce ingredients with extraordinary evocative power.

Thus, perfumers are more and more in search of naturalness that certain natural materials cannot, paradoxically, offer them. Synthetic products can give an illusion of naturalness and evoke a carnal, enveloping note, for example, vanillin.

The synthetic Hedione will better sublimate the rose and bring a more natural aspect to it reminiscent of the freshness of morning dew. It will do so more than the natural bergamot or lemon, considered more classic.

Synthetic molecules today

Today, many new synthetic molecules are highly appreciated and make it possible to obtain very particular notes, such as:

• White musks evoke comfort and softness as well as refinement with cashmere notes among others. 
• Addictive, powerful and diffusive notes can be obtained with cashmeran or ambroxan.
• Sweet notes, such as caramel, are obtained thanks to ethyl-maltol.
• Woody, vibrant, and amber notes appreciated by men, are obtained with limbanol, cedarwood, ambrocenide and karanal (or Z11).
• Real notes reminiscent of oud wood are rarely natural and often very expensive. They are often replaced by a blend of natural and synthetic materials. 
• Evernyl, a scent between bark and moss heated by the sun that takes you into the undergrowth.
• Recently Givaudan developed Ambrofix, with its characteristic ambergris scent, obtained by biotechnology, 100% renewable from sustainable sugar cane.
• Mahonia brings a petal breath to a composition and transports you to the heart of a flower field.

Here are some other synthetic products regularly used in perfumery:

• Alpha damascone: an apple-cider scent, used in Nahema by Guerlain and Jardins de Bagatelle by Guerlain.
• Ethyl-maltol and maltol: molecules with a sweet, caramel-like smell, used in Thierry Mugler's Angel, La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme and Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire Intense.
• Dihydromyrcenol: a fresh, modern citrus note, used in Calvin Klein's CK One and Davidoff's Cool Water.
• Heliotropine gives a white glue and almond scent. It is used in L'Heure Bleue, and Après l'Ondée by Guerlain.
• Galaxolide: a powdery, fruity, ripe and clean musk used in White Musk by The Body Shop.
• Le cis 3 hexenol: a scent of cut grass used in Herba Fresca by Guerlain.

Preconceived ideas on synthetic materials

It is common to have reservations about synthetic products. You can sometimes hear objections such as: "A good perfume is one that contains only natural ingredients" or "New fragrances are all synthetic" or "Synthetic is cheaper.”

In the collective unconscious, the natural is essentially positive and the majority of synthetic molecules are only a "copy" of the same molecules found in nature.
However, if it is true that natural materials bring a real added value, synthetic products should not be considered as negative. Moreover, synthetic products are not always less expensive than natural raw materials. For example, irone, a synthetic molecule that exists in the iris, costs about 2000€ per kilo. A luxurious molecule with a powdery smell such as white musk costs about 600€, while a natural essence of lavender costs 150€ per kilo, neroli costs 3000€ and orange essence only 10€!

It is also important to know that several years of research using sophisticated techniques are necessary to discover certain odorous molecules that are of interest to perfumers and can be produced on a large scale. Synthetic as well as natural products are subject to legislation, all ingredients used in perfumery are subjected to drastic toxicological tests.
It should be known that a 100% natural perfume will very often be less effective in wake and tenacity.

Without synthetic ingredients, modern perfumery would not exist. For example:

• Without aldehydes Chanel N°5 would never have seen the light of day.
• Without coumarin, vanillin and linalool Guerlain's first modern fragrance Jicky would never have existed.
• Without ethylvanillin Guerlain's Shalimar could not have offered such a memorable trail.
• The yet shy hedione (a transparent floral note, tea facet, airy and jasmine) in Eau Sauvage by Dior transfigures the other notes in the perfume and brings a fluid and evanescent breath to contemporary compositions.
• The calone in Acqua Di Gió reproduces the smell of the sea and iodine.
• Mitsouko by Guerlain would not be as perfect without its fruity peach note (aldehyde C14) used for the first time in a fragrance.
• Hexenol embalms freshly cut grass for the green notes.

History of synthetic products 

Here is a chronology retracing the history of the great creations of synthetic materials in perfumery:

• 1833/ 1834: Dumas and Peligot isolate cinnamic aldehyde from cinnamon essence.
• 1844: Cahours finds the main constituent of aniseed essence: anethol.
• 1868: The English chemist, William Henry Perkin, synthesizes the odorant principle of the tonka bean called coumarin. 
• 1882: Coumarin is used for the first time in the Royal Fern, created for Houbigant.
• 1869 : Discovery of heliotropine used in Après l'Ondée, which also contains the anisic aldehyde molecule discovered in 1887.
• 1874: Chemists Tiemann and Reimer industrially manufacture vanillin.
• 1880: Discovery of quinolines, leather notes present in Cuir de Russie (there were several of them, notably Cuir de Russie by Chanel, and Cuir de Russie by Guerlain).
• 1888: the chemist Baur produced an artificial musk much less expensive than musk tonkin (the latter was henceforth banned).
• 1889: Jicky by Guerlain uses in many natural products the first synthetic products coumarin, vanillin and linalool, in order to boost natural vanilla and tonka bean.
• In the 1900s: Moureu and Delange discover octine and heptine methyl carbonate, with a violet note (leaves).
• 1903: Blaize and Darzens participate in the creation of aldehydes.
• Around 1905: The Dupont company created well-known products, such as ionones, methylionone, alpha amylcinnamic aldehyde and acetivenol.
• 1908: the creation of hydroxycitronellal from citronella oil. At this date, creation of the peach note (C14), which will be used for the first time in Guerlain's Mitsouko.
• 1960: Great discoveries are made, such as hedione, isolated from jasmine, and discovered by the Firmenich company, which led to the creation of Dior's sublime perfume Eau Sauvage (1966). 
• Sandalwood, added to natural sandalwood, led to the creation of Samsara.
• 1963: ethyl maltol was created. It is the famous caramel note, first used in Angel by Mugler.
• 1966: Calone, a marine note, is used for the first time in New West Aramis.
• 1970: damascones (isolated from the rose and created by the Firmenich company) were used for the first time with brio in the creation of Nahéma et Jardins de Bagatelle by Guerlain.
• 1973: the creation of a much-used molecule, iso e super, a very sweet woody note.
• 1990: the creation of helvetolide, a powdered musk.
• Every year new synthetic molecules are created and new natural materials are discovered.

Conclusion

It is important to know that a perfumer constitutes his perfume organ (a piece of furniture allowing him to store and classify his bottles of essential oils) with about 1000 products, which he chooses according to his affinities among a range of 4000 natural and synthetic materials. 

The notes of the synthetic products have therefore greatly enriched the perfumer's organ. They have made it possible to create certain notes such as violet, lilac, lily of the valley and fruit notes that cannot be treated naturally. All these discoveries contribute to the development, renewal and enrichment of creation in perfumery. 

In addition, a perfume containing many synthetic products would be more linear and more stable on many supports (fabrics, skin etc.). They will also be more tenacious and will have more wake. A perfume containing more natural products than synthetic products will evolve according to each skin, and will sometimes be unrecognizable from one person to another. This kind of perfume has different vibrations and will have a supplement of soul.

Let's get out of this binary and simplistic vision which consists in opposing the good naturals from the bad synthetic products!

The ideal remains therefore to have natural products in large proportion in a fragrance, accompanied by synthetic products that will act as complements.

Beyond the debate opposing natural products and synthetic products, is to have a beautiful creative idea and a strong origin with a beautiful olfactory aesthetic, as well as an orchestration precisely mastered by a talented perfumer.

Sylvaine Delacourte fragrances

Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.