Abstract
THE difference between the odours of the two optical isomers of carvone has been recognized for some time; (+)-carvone (isolated from caraway oil) was characterized as caraway-like while (−)-carvone (isolated from spearmint oil), as spearmint-like1. Samples purified by gas–liquid chromatography with very high chemical and optical purity still exhibited the two characteristic odours (refs. 1 and 2 and L. Friedman, private communication). Moreover, (−)-carvone was synthesized from (+)-limonene and was found to have a spearmint odour1,2. The possibility that a minor impurity of very low threshold and low concentration is responsible for the observed dissimilar odours has not, however, been completely eliminated.
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References
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LEITEREG, T., GUADAGNI, D., HARRIS, J. et al. Evidence for the Difference between the Odours of the Optical Isomers (+)- and (−)-Carvone. Nature 230, 455–456 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/230455a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/230455a0
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