Keywords: Fragrances / Olfactory properties / Patchouli / Spiro compounds / Structure-activity relationshipsIn the course of synthetic work on new vetiver odorants, a new, potent patchouli odorant was discovered. Its structure was elucidated as 1-hydroxy-1,4,7,7,9-pentamethylspiro-[4.5]decan-2-one (15/16), and both diastereoisomers were synthesized from the previously reported 4,7,7,9-tetramethyl-1-methylenespiro[4.5]decan-2-one by epoxidation with mchloroperoxybenzoic acid, reduction with lithium aluminum hydride, and subsequent oxidation with pyridinium chlorochromate or Dess-Martin periodinane. The 1,4-unlike-isomer 15 was found to be the diastereoisomer with the most powerful odor, and its excellent odor threshold of 0.067 ng/L air triggered the synthesis of the derivatives 19, 22, 23, and 26 possessing a different methyl substitution pattern or ring size. Glycol cleavage in the oxidation step was circumvented