Gamma Nonalactone (Aldehyde C18)

Synthetic Ingredient Overview

• 🔎 Chemical Name: γ-Nonalactone

• 🧪 Synonyms: Aldehyde C-18, Coconut Lactone

• 🧬 Chemical Formula: C₉H₁₆O₂

• 📂 CAS N°: 104-61-0

• 📘 FEMA: 2783

• ⚖️ MW: 156.22 g/mol

• ♨️ Vapor Pressure (25 °C): ~1.18 × 10⁻² mm Hg (est.)

• 📝 Odor Type: Fruity (Coconut)

• 📈 Odor Strength: Medium-strong, with extreme longevity (approx. 300 hrs on blotter)

• 👃🏼 Odor Profile: Intense coconut, creamy, fruity in high dilution, soft floral-musk undercurrent

• 👅 Flavor Profile: Coconut, sweet nutty, used in fruit and dessert-type flavors

• ⚗️ Uses: Floral volume builder, lactonic booster in white florals, coconut flavor agent, fixative

• 🧴 Appearance: Colorless to pale yellow liquid

What is Gamma-Nonalactone?

Gamma-Nonalactone, often mistakenly referred to as “Aldehyde C-18,” is a γ-lactone — a cyclic ester — derived from nonanoic acid. Despite the name confusion, it is chemically distinct from aldehydes. First reported in the 1920s and widely used since the 1950s, it became a staple in perfumery for its tropical, creamy, and long-lasting coconut character.

Structurally, it is a medium-sized ring lactone with significant volatility and diffusiveness for a base note compound. Its intense sweetness and tropical warmth allow it to function as both a fruity top enhancer and a long-wearing base material.

Olfactory Profile & Perfumery Applications

Gamma-Nonalactone adds unmistakable coconut warmth to both floral and Oriental compositions. Its use must be measured carefully: while trace amounts yield a creamy sweetness, even moderate overdosing can overpower compositions with lactonic heaviness.

Notable applications:

• White Floral Bases: Enhances Gardenia, Jasmine, Tuberose, Honeysuckle, Plumeria

• Oriental & Musky Accords: Used with Sandalwood, Styrax, Musk, and Undecanolide

• Coconut Accords: Core component in beachy tropical profiles

• Fixative Role: Contributes depth and longevity to fruity and creamy blends

Typical usage levels range between 0.01% and 0.3% in fine fragrance. In functional applications (candles, soaps), levels may be adjusted for thermal or surfactant resistance.

Industrial & Technical Uses

• Fine Fragrance: Coconut-floral accords, exotic sweet notes, solar blends

• Functional Fragrance: Long-lasting odor masking in detergents, personal care

• Flavor Use (FEMA 2783): Used at 10–50 ppm in tropical, coconut, cherry, or nut flavors

• Industrial Synthesis: Key building block in lactonic structures, low-odor solvents

Regulatory & Safety Overview

• IFRA Status (2023): No specific restrictions; evaluated as standard lactone

• EU Allergens (1223/2009): Not among 26 declarable allergens

• REACH: Registered

• ECHA Classification: Not classified as hazardous

• FEMA GRAS Status: FEMA No. 2783 — Approved for flavor use

• Toxicology: Low acute toxicity; not sensitizing under controlled levels

✅ Safe under normal usage conditions. Overuse may cause cloying odor profiles; not phototoxic or carcinogenic under typical perfumery exposure.

Natural Occurrence

Gamma-Nonalactone has been reported in a wide variety of natural matrices, including:

• Fruits: Peach, Apricot, Papaya, Guava, Currant, Strawberry, Raisin

• Fermented Products: Rum, Whiskey, Wine, Sherry, Beer

• Animalic Foods: Chicken, Pork, Beef fat, Butter, Cheese

• Others: Camembert, Tomato, Soybean, Green Tea, Rice, Malt, Sweetgrass

Despite these occurrences, commercial use is almost entirely synthetic, due to isolation cost.

Production Methods

• From Nonanoic Acid: Lactonization via acid catalysis

• Via Hexanol + Methyl Acrylate: Free-radical route using di-tert-butylperoxide

• From Undecylenic Acid + Malonic Acid: Alternate multi-step esterification

These routes allow scalable, cost-effective industrial supply for both flavor and fragrance use.

Sources

• Symrise Technical Literature

• Perfume and Flavor Chemicals – S. Arctander (1969)

• Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients

• Monographs on Fragrance Raw Materials – D. L. J. Opdyke (RIFM)

• Leffingwell Chirality Database

• PubChem – Compound CID 7792

• Scentspiracy Internal Research – Fulvio Ciccolo (2024)