Hydroxycitronellal

Fraterworks: Hydroxycitronellal (since 1905) in its most radiant form is cyclosia® (which we also stock) but its cost puts it far out of budget for most perfumery projects. on the other hand, basf produces a spectacular quality at a price that fits most budgets. luxury fragrance houses frequently use the basf version while cyclosia® is relegated to speciality use as a showpiece in much the same way as we now use other treasures such as rhodinol isolated from bourbon geranium and geraniol ex palmarosa.
Today, hydroxycitronellal remains one of the few elegant lily of the valley aldehydes that can be used in fairly generous amounts (up to 2.1% of the finished perfume) whilst retaining ifra 51 compliance.
Discovered around the same time as the orris / violet chemical iralia, hydroxycitronellal formed a substantial part of the midcentury masterpiece muguet des bois, the lily of the valley perfume and then base created by henri robert for coty.

Hydroxycitronellal

Moellhausen: Fresh floral, delicate muguet, lindenblossom- like

Pell Wall Perfumes: Floral-muguet, fresh, green, sweet
Arctander describes the odour as: “sweet-floral, at first delicate and refreshingly mild, but often increasing in odor strength after short olfactory study. the floral notes are mild, light and resemble lily of the valley. the tenacity is good, and the odor diffusion increases significantly when the material is properly blended with lower boiling odorants or modifiers.” he goes on to suggest it is: “one of the most frequently used floralizing perfume materials. originially introduced as a ‘muguet’ material, it finds its way into almost every type of floral fragrance, and a great many nonfloral ones. its concentration in perfumes may vary from about 1% (which rarely gives effect unless supported by parallel materials) up to 30 or 40% in straight floral types. it is almost a ‘must’ in muguet (at certain price levels) and peony, lily, sweet pea, narcisse, lindenblossom, etc. and it had a monopoly on these types for more than 40 years during which period not one material appeared that could truly replace hydroxycitronellal.”

Hydroxycitronellal Pure (High Laurine)

Perfumers Apprentice: Floral, fresh, aldehydic, muguet.
Our hydroxycitronellal product was sold previously as a 50/50 mixture of laevo and dextro hydroxycitronellal. we then switched to hydroxycitronellal pure, which is > 90% (laevo only) hydroxycitronellal. this (laurine) version of hydroxycitronellal (pure) is 99% hydroxycitronellal, high laurine (no laevo) manufactured by basf.