The Chemistry of Perfume

Introduction
YouTube Video

Jenna Eaton is a junior

at Billings Senior High School. Perfume plays a role in her life every day she leaves the house
to go to school, work, ect. She finds perfume very interesting in the way it is formed and
created and the chemicals that go into making it and therefore believes you should find the
chemistry of perfume interesting as well! A man named Tapputi, who was a perfume-maker
from second millennium Mesopotamia, is considered the worlds first chemist. In labs, perfume
is created using synthesized chemicals and real scent extractions. Every individual smell is
created using different elements and components. Perfume is unique because it takes a
perfume chemist to combine the perfect amounts of substances to create the perfect perfume
for a certain company. Only the perfume chemist creating the perfume knows the exact
composition of the perfume so that a copy-cat perfume can not be made. Alcohol, water, and
a special scent are the main components. The scent could be a floral, musk, fruity or any other
kind of scent that is possible to be extracted or created. I chose perfume as my topic because
the way it is created and formed is so interesting!

Composition of ...
All perfumes are composed of both a base and a fragrance compound. The base is commonly alcohol or
water. Ethyl alcohol is generally used because it evaporates quickly on the skin. Other bases include:
Coumarin, Benzyl Benzotate, Phthalates, or even beeswax. The fragrance can be synthetic or it can be
literally taken from a plant, animal, etc. Without the perfect combination of the fragrance and base
combined, the smell could come across too strong or too light.

Main Chemicals, Compounds,

Components
The main components of perfume are a perfume oil, an alcohol, and water.
Perfume Oil
Perfume oil can be broken down into two different types. A synthetic oil, or a
fragrance taken from a specific source through methods such as headspace.
Headspace directly vacuums the smell from the object nd gets a print out of its
chemical equation to recreate the smell. Oils can be extracted from flowers, plants,
animals, ect. The oils have three parts: The top note, the heart note, and the base
note. The top note is what you smell immediately. The heart note is what you smell
3-4 hours after applying and it evaporates slowly. The base note sticks easily to the
skin and can stay for up to eight hours! The chemical equations for perfume oil
completely depend on what the oil was taken from.
Water and Alcohol
There are also many different types of alcohol that can be used. Ethyl Alcohol is
most commonly used (C2H6O) because it helps the fragrance spread out. Distilled
water, H2O, is also used to spread out the smell of the fragrance. Dilution is much
needed in a perfume for it to be appealing. There are different strengths of perfume
based on how much dilution is added. Parfum, the most concentrated perfume you
can buy, is 15-25 percent perfume oil. Cologne, the least concentrated perfume, is
about 10 percent perfume oil.

Chemistry's Role
A smell is a molecule that is light enough to float in the air. Fragrance materials are generally
semi-volatile organic compounds and their molecular weight rarely exceeds 260 AMU. However,
not every molecule that floats in the air has a smell or has enough of a smell to be recognized by
the human nose. For example: Carbon Monoxide (CO).
Also, how a perfume smells is not only what it comes from, but also how a person is
chemically wired to perceive it. If everyone smelled the same way and had the same favorite
smells then everyone would also have the same favorite perfume. Depending on your genetic
code, you could have different smell receptors which cause a smell to be different to you than
someone else.

Chemical reactions caused by light can also morph the smell of your perfume. This is because
the energy in light can break the bonds in fragrance molecules. Bright sunlight can destroy your
perfume within a week! Air can also corrode fragrance by oxidation which is the same process
that turns uncorked wine into vinegar. With this being said, the best place to keep your perfume is
in a dark room at room temperature in a spray bottle. The best place for application of perfume is
on the pulse points. This is because the pulse will warm the perfume and cause it to spread its
scent consistently. Again, this would not be possible without the alcohol/ water mixture and the
different notes.

Background Research
Fragrance chemists generally need a masters or doctorate in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
to be able to work in the labs and create a fragrance that is appealing to a specific audience. In
the labs, they use the combination of different chemicals to create different smells. Because
some smells can not be directly taken from a source, chemists generally need to find a way to
create a smell synthetically. Perfume is completely handled by chemists because the procedures
used to create a perfume is extremely complicated and must be very specific with the different
chemicals being used. The process is long and difficult and a perfume could go through
numerous revisions before being finalized to sell.