View of a distillation plant used for the clarification of essential oil

Industrial Fragrance Chemistry: A Brief Historical Perspective

“…Oakmoss, vetiver and patchouli, were far too complex for the analytical techniques of the time to allow identification of key odorants, or even if deciphered, the molecules were far too intricate to be duplicated by synthesis. Patchouli oil, for example, passed from being introduced in perfumery in the mid‐19th century to become one of the most important fragrance ingredients only a few decades later during the Belle Epoque (late 1890’s) and it was considered indispensable for the creation of chypre notes in reports from the 1920’s [12] . Patchoulol 10 , first named ‘patchouli camphor’, was isolated in 1869 by M. H. Gal, [13] but the genuine tricyclic structure was deciphered only in 1963 by Jack D. Dunitz and George Büchi, [14] the latter describing the formal total synthesis one year later [15] …”

“…Patchouli oil, for example, passed from being introduced in perfumery in the mid-19th century to become one of the most important fragrance ingredients only a few decades later during the Belle Epoque (late 1890's) and it was considered indispensable for the creation of chypre notes in reports from the 1920's. [12] Patchoulol 10, first named 'patchouli camphor', was isolated in 1869 by M. H. Gal, [13] but the genuine tricyclic structure was deciphered only in 1963 by Jack D. Dunitz and George Büchi, [14] the latter describing the formal total synthesis one year later. [15] The first consumer products containing fragrances of broad appeal to ordinary consumers were in fact soaps.…”