Sales of Synthetic Savors J. N. TAYrnR Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Washington, D. C.
How has t h e war affected our production and sale of ammatic chemicalsproducts used as flavor and perfume materials? At first thought, it would seem reasonable t o assume that wartime restrictions upon t h e use of such critical materials as benzene, xyleue, phenol, cresol, acetic aid-to mention a fewin the manufacture of these progucts would have reduced their output. Actually, production has been increased. A lack of shipping facilities for bringing in aromatic exotics, as well as an increased demand generally, brought about the necessity t o develop and expand domestic sources and t o duplicate many of nature's products in the laboratory. The result was that domestic rroduction of aromatic chemicalssynthetic flavors and perfume materials-in 1943 registered a total of 17,531,000 pounds, slightly lower than 1942 production but more than double the 1940 output. An annual production of more than 17 million pounds is indeed impressive when one considers t h a t these products are used in small amounts and t h a t a little bit goes a long way. U N ~ T B DSTATBE PRODUCTION OD S Y N T B ~ AROWATIC IC CABYICALS
[In thousands of pounds1 Cyclic? Acyelirf ~otal
1938
1940
1941.
1942.
3837 1474
5485 2510
9931 4268
7956 YE31
-
-
5311
7995
-
14,199
-
17,787
1943'
-
8120 9411 17,531
* Preliminary.
t Generally coal-derived. f Noncyclie. 7 Source: U. S. TsriIi Commission. If the war has developed the industry, the industry has likewise bwsted the war effort. Synthetic aromatics as ingredients of well-flavored foods, beverages, and smokes, have found their way into mess kitchens, galleys, and canteens all over the world, as well as into the home. At home, too, as contrihutors t o cleanlinessand beauty, they haveenriched daily living and have helped keep up m o r a l t t h a t intangible without which all our efforts would be unavailing. Synthetic aromatics are used not only t o please t h e palate and t o delight t h e olfactory senses, but also as industrial deodorants and as odor-masking ingredients by the paint, paper, ink, leather, rubber, textile, and other industries. Thus they are all-round agents entering into the industrial economy as wellas the esthetic. Synthetic sromatics connate romance, too, not of faraway places but of science here a t home. The synthesis in t h e chemist's laboratory of these aromatic principles is indeed a modern adventure into the unknown, and the technique of their skilful blending into fine fragrances and exceptional perfumes, a discovery of nature's mysterious processes. Today, fine perfumes are available to all without straining t h e pocketbook, while formerly an ounce or two of the natural odor was worth a king's ransom. Not so long ago, it required tons of violets to make a single ounce of the natural oil. Today, the violet scent is produced synthetically. These synthetics have become as familiar as their natural counterparts, except perhaps in name. Who would dream that phenylacetic aldehyde is the active principle of hyacinth; that anisic aldehyde is responsible for t h e fragrance of hawthorn, or that phenll-ethyl alcohol is an essential ingredient in artificial attar of rose? But after all, as Juliet said. "What's in a name? That which wecall arose By any other name would smellas sweet." Scientific names of chemical compounds are indicative of
their architecture or molecular structure as visualized by chemists. Structure has a definite relationship to properties such as odor, taste, and other distinguishing characteristics. It is only logical t h a t these structural relationships should conform to definite patterns and that certain resemblances should indicate family groups. Synthetic flavor and perfume materials may be broadly grouped as cyclic and acyclic compounds. The cyclic products consist of benzenoid compounds (derivatives of benzene and its homologs) and heterocyclic compounds. Terpenaid derivatives are found in both cyclic and acyclic groups. These broad categories may be further subdivided into classes of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, ethers, acids, and lactones. Esters, offspring of t h e reaction between alcohols and acids, are t h e principal odor bearers of fruits and flowers. Although somesynthetic aromatics are in themselves pleasing. it is often necessary t o blend a number of them t o duplicate with faithfulness the natural products. Some of these blending ingredients are used as bases, others as fuatives; some are suitable as flavors or only as perfumes, others may serve both purposes. Although a large number of synthetic organic chemicals have distinctive odor and taste qualities, many of them are not included in the broad group of flavor and perfume materials. Ethyl and butyl acetates, dimethyl and dibutyl phthalates, and diphenyl oxide are typical examples of compounds which, although possessing aromatic characteristics, are preponderantly used in the industrial field. The chief uses of these chemicals are, respectively, as solvent, as plasticizer, and as a heat-transfer medium. However, data showing production of synthetic aromatic chemi~ cals do not include these or similar industrial chemicals. Production figures on sodium glutamate, a flavoring material widelvused in the manufacture of "aiinomato," "vetsin." and the likrarr included at present. Synthetic aromatics are csscntially manufacturers' goods, mosr items being manufnrturrd for sale ourside the producing e5tnh lishmeuts. Some individual aromatics stand out among their fellows, either because of their singleness of purpose or because of their versatility. Prominent among the alcohols is phenyl-ethyl alcohol with the lovely fragrance of the rose. Of t h e aldehydes, cinnamic aldehyde, constituent of oil of cinnamon, gives spice to flavors and perfumes; amyl cinnamic aldehyde is one of the indispensable constituents in artificial imitations of flower perfume? of the jasmine type; anisic aldehyde (aubepine) possesses the odor of flowering hawthorn and new-mown hay. Vanillin, principal flavor constituent of the vanilla bean, finds a wide use in perfumery as a sweetener and blender. I t s greatest use is in vanilla-type flavors. Included in the ester group are methyl salicylate, the artificial ail of wintergreen; methyl anthranilate, used t o accentuate the taste and odor of grape juice and to manufacture artificial oil of neroli; methyl benzoate, sold commercially under the name of uiobe oil; amyl salicylate, the basic constituent of artificial orchid perfumes. Ability t o make innumerable combinations of the hundreds of aromatic chemicals makes possible an infinite variety of finished perfumes and flavors. Tested formulations can be reproduced a t will and a uniformity of product assured. During the past quarter century the manufacture of synthetic aromatic chemicals in the United States has grown remarkably and. in that time, the country has becomeindependent of foreign sources of supply. Synthetic aromatics manufactured today are tried and true products. Their increased use by perfumers and by the food industries and has been a gradual development. The selling movement, initiated a number of years ago on the novd ~~~~
.
slogan "Sell by Smell," has also'contributed t o their increased consumption as has their employment as deodorants and reodorants. The present conflict has stimulated a greater interest in synthetic aromatics, and scientific and technological advances made during the war regarding the mandfacture, as well as the proved
worth of these products, in new and unique formulations, will undoubtedly bring about an even broader consumer demand for them and a correspondingly larger consumption in the postwar years. -Reproduced, in part, from Domeslic Commerce, (March,
1945).
