4,8-dimethyl-2-propan-2-ylidene
-3,3a,4,5,6,8a-hexahydro-1H-azulen-6-ol
Ladies and gentlemen: May I present vetiverol.(4,8-dimethyl-2-propan-2-ylidene
-3,3a,4,5,6,8a-hexahydro-1H-azulen-6-ol)
Vetiverol, or a short post on why you might want to evolve.
10000 years ago, when living in caves and dreaming of fresh meet roasted over open fire and a day without flies, humans might already have collected roots coming from a grass, vetiveria zizaniodes. Without ever having seen a soap bar or shampoo, they might have gathered them somewhere in India and made scented things with it. They might have appreciated the earthy, musky, woody and slightly flowery fragrance that fitted perfectly with the hippest dress code these days: Fur and skin from dead animals.
A couple of generations later, having master the art of making glass, we think we are totally different beings, eating with forks and using soap. We use the same roots, sometimes store them for a while for maturation, and then steam distill these roots to collect a viscous, yellow mass, that still is quite close to the original. Earthy, warm, woody, smokey, a little hidden green and flowery touch. Combine it with Sandalwood and you are teleported in an Indian temple. It is an essential oil that is incredible complex, and features some 20-30 % of vetiverol.
Again a couple of years later, having mastered organic chemistry, driving cars, and producing scented shampoos, folks came up with a way to produce a pure compound, called vetiverol. Woody and balsamic, tones of sandalwood, and rather missing all the dirtyness of vetiver oil. A clean product in a sense. And, and here things become interesting, with a little green undertone! This undertone can be perfectly matched with citrus for instance. This vetiverol fits perfectly with the suit and tie dress code of suburbia. A decent scent, perfect for the office, inoffensive, and still quite versatile.
Use this and acetylate it and you will get Vetiverylacetate, again a clean product, but this time the scent shifts to old cellar, dry pencils, slightly smokey, with much less of green tonality.
I do not use the single compound, but a mixture derived from the natural essential oil, stripped of most of its dirtyness. And I love it for the balsamic sandalwood undertones. There is a greenness and a flower quality in my nose and this is why I thought “Lilly of the valley” and pepper. We will see later how this turns out…Excuse me now for the weekend: I am busy over the weekend, evolving further….fragrant greetings.
June 29th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thank you Andy for telling us about Vetiverol. We already doing a ‘group buy’ for it on the group, because you made us curious about it.
June 30th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Great! Please let me know what you think about vetiverol, Jenny. And now…off for the weekend.
Greetings
Andy
June 30th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Thanks Andy for this most interesting (and witty) analysis of vetiverol and vetiveryl acetate. It was very illuminating and informative (and explains the vast difference between the extremely pungent and earthy essential oil and the crisp, clean effect of the note in “business like” scents, as you so succinctly put it).
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 am
Hi Helg
Thank you! Crisp and clean greeting to you!