Geranyl acetone and nerolidol have a broad spectrum of bioactivity, they exhibit, inter alia, olfactory, germicidal and antimicrobial properties. Twelve E/Z‐mixtures of analogues of geranyl acetone and nerolidol were examined for their odour and antimicrobial activity. Mixtures of analogues of geranyl acetone generally have a scent that is similar to the parent terpenoid, with interesting notes (violet, rose, fruity), while the odour of similar mixtures of nerolidol analogues was rather weak, floral, fresh and fruity. The odour thresholds and relative volatility factors were determined. The antimicrobial activity of products described in this paper, in comparison with nerolidol and geranyl acetone, was similar. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

By implementing a common and industrially used method, 30 compounds which are structurally related to geranyl acetone, nerolidol, farnesal, farnesol and farnesyl acetate were obtained. Their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria was investigated. Pharmacophore models were proposed based on the obtained results and 3D QSAR modelling. Cytotoxic effects against mainly human immortalised and normal cell lines of different origin (malignant melanoma MeWo, colorectal adenocarcinoma HT29, promyelocytic leukemia HL60, gingival fibroblasts HFIG, skin keratinocytes HaCaT and rat small intestine epithelium IEC6) were examined. The odour descriptions of newly synthesised compounds are given.

This work presents odour characteristics of a newly synthesized family of seven terpenoid alcohols with citrusy grapefruit odours. The alcohols were prepared from citronellal that was subjected to a two‐ or three‐step reaction sequence to deliver secondary or tertiary alcohols. Two other compounds with an acetal structure (containing 18 and 19 carbon atoms) with the same odour type and very high tenacity were synthesized from (+)‐3‐carene. The most olfactorily potent compounds were 5,9‐dimethyldec‐8‐en‐2‐ol 10 and 2‐carene derivative acetal 25. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.