GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / green · floral · fresh
Cis-3-Hexenyl Salicylate
Category
GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory
green · floral · fresh
Origin
Volatility
Heart Note
Botanical
N/A — synthetic aroma chemical
Appearance
Colourless to pale yellow liquid with a fresh green-floral odour
Producing Countries
Synthetic production worldwide
Pyramid
Heart
Cut grass left in warm sun, slowly turning sweet. A green note that refuses to leave — the salicylate anchor holds the freshness of leaf alcohol deep into a fragrance's heart, where green normally cannot survive.
Green-herbal opening, like torn leaves on a warm wooden table. Less sharp and volatile than cis-3-hexenol, broader and more balsamic than cis-3-hexenyl acetate. A faint metallic edge — almost mineral — sets it apart from other green materials. The salicylate warmth emerges gradually, turning the initial cut-grass note into something closer to sun-dried hay with a floral-balsamic undertow. Warmer than galbanum, less resinous than violet leaf, more persistent than any other green note in the perfumer's palette.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Sharp green-leaf freshness, cut grass, faint metallic edge. The cis-3-hexenol character is recognizable but softened by the salicylate ester bond.
After a few hours
After a few hours
Green recedes to a warm herbal-balsamic tone. The mineral-metallic facet becomes more prominent. Sun-dried hay quality. Still distinctly green but now with floral warmth.
After a few days
After a few days
Residual warm-balsamic trace on blotter. The green has faded to a soft, almost powdery herbal memory. Remarkably persistent for a green material — the salicylate anchor holds.
The Full Story
Cis-3-hexenyl salicylate (CAS 65405-77-8, C\u2081\u2083H\u2081\u2086O\u2083, MW 220.27) is the ester of cis-3-hexenol and salicylic acid. It smells green — but not the sharp, almost metallic green of its parent alcohol. The salicylate group softens the opening into something warmer, slightly balsamic, with a faint metallic hue that gives it the ability to suggest wet concrete, sun-warmed stone, mineral surfaces. Drier than linalyl acetate, less vegetal than galbanum, and far more tenacious than leaf alcohol itself.
The molecule exists in trace amounts in carnation absolute, but extraction yields from Dianthus caryophyllus are negligible. All commercial material is synthetic, produced by esterification of cis-3-hexenol with salicylic acid (or transesterification from methyl salicylate), typically catalysed by dibutyltin diacetate at 140\u2013170\u00b0C, yielding around 90\u201392%.
Its real value is structural. Cis-3-hexenol disappears in minutes — flash-point freshness, gone before the heart develops. The salicylate ester carries that same green signature but persists for hours (substantivity rated at 216 hours at 100%). This makes it indispensable wherever a perfumer wants green to register in the dry-down, not just the opening. It extends green notes in floral and foug\u00e8re compositions, adds naturalness to white floral reconstructions, and builds solar or beachy accords with genuine staying power.
Increasingly, it is a functional replacement for benzyl salicylate, which carries an EU allergen labelling requirement under the 26 designated fragrance allergens. Cis-3-hexenyl salicylate offers comparable blending, fixative, and floralising properties — with additional green-fresh connotations and no allergen declarati on.
Benzyl salicylate is one of the 26 fragrance allergens requiring individual labelling in the EU under Regulation 1223/2009. Cis-3-hexenyl salicylate carries no such obligation, which has driven its adoption as a functional substitute — offering comparable fixative and blending properties with an added green dimension and no allergen declaration on the ingredient list.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Fully synthetic. Two principal routes: (1) direct esterification of cis-3-hexenol (CAS 928-96-1) with salicylic acid under acid catalysis, or (2) transesterification from methyl salicylate and cis-3-hexenol using dibutyltin diacetate catalyst at 140-170°C under gradually reduced pressure, distilling off methanol. The transesterification route achieves yields of approximately 90-92%. The compound exists naturally in trace quantities in carnation absolute (Dianthus caryophyllus), but extraction yields are negligible — all commercial material is synthetic.
Molecular Formula
C13H16O3
CAS Number
65405-77-8
Botanical Name
N/A — synthetic aroma chemical
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
CIS-3-HEXENYL 2-HYDROXYBENZOATE
Physical Properties
Lasting Power
216 hour(s) at 100.00 %
Appearance
Colourless to pale yellow liquid with a fresh green-floral odour
Boiling Point
145.00 °C. @ 5.00 mm Hg
Flash Point
230.00 °F. TCC ( 110.00 °C. )
Specific Gravity
0.99500 to 1.07000 @ 25.00 °C.
Refractive Index
1.51700 to 1.52500 @ 20.00 °C.
Melting Point
139.00 °C. @ 760.00 mm Hg
In Perfumery
Heart-to-base green modifier and fixative. CAS 65405-77-8. The primary functi on is extending green character into the middle and late stages of a compositi on — a structural problem that leaf alcohol alone cannot solve due to its extreme volatility. Operates as a blender and floraliser across virtually every fragrance family: fougères (where it reinforces the green-herbal axis alongside coumar in and lavender), white florals (where it adds naturalness to synthetic muguet or jasmine reconstructions), and marine-solar accords (where the metallic-mineral quality creates unusual concrete textures). Increasingly used as a drop-in replacement for benzyl salicylate in formul as affected by EU allergen labelling requirements — it provides comparable fixative power and blending softness without triggering mandatory declarati on. Functions well alongside other salicylates (hexyl salicylate, amyl salicylate) and pairs effectively with Hedione, dihydromyrcenol, and ISO E Super for modern transparent compositions.
