Synthetics Found in Nature – Experimental Perfume Club
By Emmanuelle Moeglin, Founder & Perfumer
Hedione, Ambroxan and coumarin are three of the most famous synthetic molecules in perfumery, yet each one exists in nature. Hedione is found in jasmine, Ambroxan in ambergris, and coumarin in tonka beans, hay and cinnamon bark.
Synthetic molecules make up most of a perfumer’s organ, and they are too often seen as harmful or fake. They are not. Many are identical to molecules that plants and animals already make, and they let natural ingredients shine in a composition. Here is where these three come from, how they smell, and how I use them in the lab.
Weighing materials by hand in the lab.
Are synthetic perfume ingredients really synthetic?
“Synthetic” describes how a molecule is made, not what it is. A molecule built in a laboratory can be exactly the same as one a flower produces. Perfumers call these nature-identical: the scent and the chemistry match, only the route is different.
Others are made from a natural starting point. Ambroxan, for example, is produced from a material extracted from clary sage. And some molecules are rarer and more costly than many naturals. If you want the wider picture, including the environmental side, read our guide to synthetic vs natural ingredients.
Synthetic describes how a molecule is made, not where it comes from.
What is Hedione and what does it smell like?
Hedione is the trade name of methyl dihydrojasmonate, a floral heart note. Its name comes from the Greek hēdonē, pleasure. Firmenich chemist Edouard Demole synthesised it in 1962, and it also occurs naturally in jasmine absolute, from one of the most fragrant flowers in perfumery.
It smells fresh, floral and slightly citrus, with a green edge that some people read as magnolia or jasmine tea. Perfumers call it transparent jasmine. On its own it is soft, almost shy. In a formula it brings air and radiance, opening up the notes around it. Its first famous use was in Eau Sauvage by Christian Dior, created by Edmond Roudnitska in 1966: a citrus cologne with a floral glow.
In our Jasmine Osmanthus Essential, Hedione brings a fresh jasmine tea note to the deeper, richer jasmine sambac absolute.
What is Ambroxan and where does it come from?
Ambroxan (also known as Ambrox, Ambroxide or, from Givaudan, Ambrofix) is a key part of the smell of ambergris, the rare material produced in the gut of sperm whales. As ambergris ages in sun and seawater, a compound called ambrein slowly oxidises, and Ambroxan is one of the molecules it forms. Do not confuse ambergris with amber: amber in perfume is an accord, not a single material.
The smell is warm, woody and musky, slightly salty and mineral, with the soft, skin-like quality that makes ambergris so prized. It is extremely long lasting. I explain more in what does Ambroxan smell like. In our Amber Iris Essential, it brings warmth and comfort and helps the fragrance last.
What is coumarin and what does it smell like?
Coumarin is the sweet, hay-like base note at the heart of the fougère family. It was first isolated from tonka beans in 1820, and the English chemist William Henry Perkin synthesised it in 1868. In 1882 Houbigant used it in Fougère Royale, the perfume that gave the fougère family its name and one of the first to build on a synthetic molecule.
Tonka beans are its richest natural source, but coumarin is also found in sweet clover, sweet woodruff, vanilla grass and cassia cinnamon, and in fruits such as strawberries, cherries, apricots and blackcurrants. It is the smell of freshly cut hay drying in the sun.
Pure coumarin smells of almond, marzipan and hay, with a sweetness close to vanilla, which is why the two are often confused. They are different molecules: here is why vanilla is the most misunderstood note. Diluted, coumarin turns softer, with hazelnut and almond under the hay, and a warm tobacco facet that made it a pillar of classic masculine fragrance. In our Fig Neroli Essential, its warm, almond milk tones balance the green freshness of fig and basil leaves.
Coumarin is the smell of hay drying in the sun.
Why perfumers need molecules and naturals together
Naturals bring depth and complexity, with hundreds of molecules in a single oil. Molecules bring precision. A perfumer can choose one facet of a flower, make it brighter, more lasting or more transparent, and build a structure that holds. Hedione lifts, Ambroxan anchors and extends, coumarin rounds and warms.
Without them, modern perfumery would not exist. Most great fragrances, including the ones built mainly on naturals, depend on a handful of well-chosen molecules to give them shape.
Two Essentials, one Blend
Ambroxan, from Essential to Blend
A perfumer’s note
These three molecules behave very differently in a formula. Hedione is so transparent on a blotter that it is tempting to keep adding it, but used too generously it becomes filler, adding volume without character. Ambroxan is the opposite: it is a genuinely versatile molecule that works beautifully at higher doses if the budget allows, though it can seem to fade from your nose after a few minutes, which tricks beginners into thinking they need more. Coumarin is the one to watch. It is restricted by IFRA and should only be used in small amounts: pushed too far it turns heavy and cloying. A blotter alone will not tell you the truth. In the lab I work from dilutions, add these materials in small steps, and always compare the formula with and without them, first on a blotter, then on skin, coming back over several hours. That is where you see what each molecule really does: Hedione’s radiance, Ambroxan’s warmth on skin, coumarin’s slow, soft sweetness in the drydown.
Three not-so-synthetic molecules at a glance
Hedione
What you smell
Fresh, airy jasmine, citrus, jasmine tea
Found in nature
Jasmine absolute
Key dates
Synthesised 1962; Eau Sauvage 1966
Ambroxan
What you smell
Warm wood, musk, salty skin
Found in nature
Ambergris
Key dates
First made 1950, from clary sage
Coumarin
What you smell
Hay, almond, tonka, vanilla-like sweetness
Found in nature
Tonka bean, sweet clover, cassia, sweet woodruff
Key dates
Isolated 1820; synthesised 1868; Fougère Royale 1882
Keep exploring
More from the Journal
Frequently asked questions about synthetic perfume molecules
Are Hedione, Ambroxan and coumarin natural or synthetic?
All three exist in nature: Hedione in jasmine, Ambroxan in ambergris, coumarin in tonka beans and many other plants. The versions perfumers use are made in the lab, some fully synthesised and some from natural starting materials.
What does Hedione smell like?
Fresh, transparent jasmine with citrus and green facets, often compared to magnolia or jasmine tea. It adds air and radiance to a fragrance.
Is Ambroxan the same as ambergris?
No. Ambergris is a complex natural material from sperm whales; Ambroxan is one of the molecules that gives it its warm, salty, musky smell. Today it is made from clary sage or fermented sugar cane.
Does coumarin smell like vanilla?
It has a sweet, vanilla-like warmth, but it is a different molecule. Coumarin smells more of hay, almond and tonka bean.
Are synthetic perfume ingredients safe?
Synthetic does not mean harmful. Every perfume ingredient, natural or synthetic, is assessed and used within the IFRA standards.
Where can I smell these molecules at EPC?
Hedione in Jasmine Osmanthus, Ambroxan in Amber Iris and coumarin in Fig Neroli. You can wear each Essential alone or blend them together.
Emmanuelle Moeglin is the founder and perfumer of Experimental Perfume Club. Classically trained at ISIPCA, with 20 years in the fragrance industry, she is a member of the French Society of Perfumers, a multi-award-winning creator and a public speaker, and teaches perfumery from our central London lab.
