History of Odor and Odorants

Abstract

Smell is the oldest sense of living species on our planet and has allowed communication between species from the beginning of life on earth. Odor has always fascinated mankind even in prehistorical times and the use of scented materials is documented since early history. Materials used were extracts from odorous natural products until the advent of organic chemistry. Progress in analytical methods allowed the isolation and structure identification of odor impact compounds from natural extracts and subsequent syntheses made it possible to produce these compounds on an industrial scale for use in many applications of modern perfumery.