The Origin of Synthetic Materials

One of my teachers, Jean-Francois, is a chemist who previously worked in sourcing natural ingredients for perfumery.  He has images and anecdotes from around the world.  He has helped cultivate patchouli in Java, photographed the wild mimosa trees of Australia, and researched how to modernize distillation equipment for roses in Turkey.  As we were smelling citronella today, I asked him how synthetic raw materials come into being.  In short, some synthetic raw materials originate in nature, and some are entirely the product of chemistry.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of chemical constituents in varying quantities in natural essential oils. Citronella oil contains about 10% of the chemical citronellal, and 20% of citronellol and geraniol combined.  Therefore, the synthetic raw material citronellal could be considered as having it’s origin in nature, as it is merely separated out from the natural source.  Note that citronellal can be further separated into the chemicals hydroxycitronellal, citronellol, and menthol, all synthetic raw materials used in fragrances and/or flavorings.  The combination of citronellol and geraniol that I mentioned above is renamed and marketed as rhodinol (ex citronella), and rhodinol is a sythetic raw material that smells like a combination of rose and citrus with a dryout that gives the impression of soft red rose petals.  The combination of citronellol and geraniol is found in other natural oils, the best quality being geranium, which is then called rhodinol (ex geranium).  

On the other hand, there are synthetic raw materials which do not originate in nature at all, and are created entirely in a laboratory.  Muscone and civettone are two important ingredients used in perfumery manufactured by Firmenich, imitating the scent from the gland of the musk deer, and the smell excreted by the gland of the civet cat, respectively.  Obviously, it is no longer practical to source these ingredients naturally on a large scale.  The chemicals muscone and civettone are created by mimicking the structure of the natural molecules, but have no natural source. 

I asked Jean-Francois on his opinion about whether inhaling synthetic ingredients was harmful to our health.  He did not think so, explaining that the amounts we ingest through inhalation are minute.  Alas, we are surrounded by synthetic materials and ingredients, and have little control over our exposure to them anyway.  I’m not entirely convinced that consuming excess chemicals causes no harm.

There is one point I’d like to make concerning the possible advantages of synthetic raw materials over natural, and that’s for the environment.  Sandalwood oil, with it’s meditation-inducing calm woody scent, is prized in perfumery.  Sadly, the tree is an endangered species, and it could be considered irresponsible to use it in perfumery.  Here, the synthetic raw material sandalore sandela can be used to attempt to rebuild the scent of the natural oil.  

It seems to me that if we could change our demand for all types of products in such lavish quantities, we could perhaps find a more sustainable way to produce the commodities we enjoy.  In turn, we could raise the quality of our goods, making more precious the food we eat, the clothes and perfumes we wear, the houses we build, and nearly everything else we consume.