Allured Books

Perfume molecules are compounds of carbon and hence come under the general heading of organic chemistry. Our bodies are also composed of organic chemicals and so are most of the components of consumer goods such as soaps and detergents. Understanding Fragrance Chemistry therefore concentrates on those aspects of organic chemistry, which are of particular importance to the fragrance industry. It is intended for those who have little or no previous training in chemistry and who would like to know enough in order to improve their understanding of perfume and its interactions with the wide variety of products in which it is used. Topics include:

• The structure of matter
• Organic molecules
• Chemical reactivity
• Acid/base reactions
• Oxidation and reduction reactions
• Perfume structure
• Chemistry in consumer goods
• The biological way we detect odors
• How nature makes fragrant molecules

Each chapter has review questions which allow readers to check their understanding of the content, and glossaries are provided where appropriate. A chapter on chemical information and a bibliography will help those who want to read more on any of the subjects covered.

• • Forward
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: The Structure of Matter
  • Chapter 2: Carbon 1-Hydrocarbons
  • Chapter 3: Carbon 2-Heteroatoms
  • Chapter 4: States of Matter
  • Chapter 5: Separation and Purification
  • Chapter 6: Analysis
  • Chapter 7: Chemical Reactivity
  • Chapter 8: Chemistry and Perfume 1: Acid/Base Reactions
  • Chapter 9: Chemistry and Perfume 1: Oxidation and Reduction Reactions
  • Chapter 10: Perfume Structure
  • Chapter 11: Chemistry in Consumer Goods
  • Chapter 12: Chemistry of Living Organisms
  • Chapter 13: The Mechanism of Olfaction
  • Chapter 14: Natural Fragrance Ingredients
  • Chapter 15: Synthetic Fragrance Ingredients
  • Chapter 16: Chemical Information
  • Answers
  • Glossary
  • Index

Charles Sell, PhD, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry with honors from The Queen's University of Belfast in 1970. The following year, he was awarded a master's degree in organic chemistry from the same for research into the anticancer drug podophyllotoxin. In 1974, he received a doctorate from the Australian National University in Canberra, for research with the late Professor Arthur Birch (of Birch Reduction fame) into the synthesis of two Australian diterpenes, one of which is a food trail pheromone for an indigenous species of termite.

Through a European Fellowship of The Royal Society, Sell spent a year with Professor Albert Eschenmoser at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland, working on the synthesis of the antibiotic rifamycin, followed by a year at the University of Warwick with Professor Bernard Golding, developing an understanding of the mechanism of action of vitamin B12.

In 1976, Sell joined Proprietary Perfumes Ltd. (later to become PPF, then Quest International, and now Givaudan). There, his work covered all aspects of synthetic organic chemistry as applied to the fragrance industry, from discovery of novel materials through process R&D, to improvement of established chemical manufacturing processes.

Additionally, in 1983–1984, Sell served as a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during which time he worked on the development of novel synthetic methodology with the late Professor George Büchi.

Sell has published a large number of original research papers, patents and reviews, and is editor and co-author of The Chemistry of Fragrance, the second edition of which has just been published by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). A second book, A Fragrant Introduction to Terpenoid Chemistry, was published in October 2003 by the RSC. Recent publications also include a review for Angewandte Chemie on the unpredictability of odor, a chapter on terpenoids for the new edition of the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology, and a chapter of olfaction for the Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology. A paper titled, "Odorantreceptor interactions and odour percept; a chemical perspective," is forthcoming in Chemistry and Biodiversity.