Ambrostar

Ambrostar is an acetal with a cage structure that is unusually complex for a fragrance material. It is a very large, very lipophilic molecule.

Origin and Production

The manufacturer's data give a GC purity of at least 98 %.

Chemistry

Chemically, Ambrostar is a methanoazuleno dioxole. Its odour threshold in air is 0.0004 μg/l.

Ambergris and Its Substitutes

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Perfume makers valued it as a fixative that lengthens the life of a scent, but synthetic ambroxide has mostly replaced it. Oxidation of ambrein, a relatively scentless terpenoid separated from ambergris, produces ambroxide and ambrinol, the main odour components of ambergris. Ambroxide is made from sclareol, a component of the essential oil of clary sage. A newer route to (-)-ambrox, the most prominent olfactive component of ambergris, starts from fermented farnesene and uses an engineered squalene hopene cyclase; compared with the sclareol route it reduces waste, solvent and energy consumption.

Handling

The liquid dissolves clear at once in ethanol, DPG and IPM. Because the material is very powerful, the working solution is 1 % and the solution for smelling is 0.1 %. In the finished fragrance 0.01 to 0.5 % is enough, and the manufacturer recommends traces up to 2 % of the formulation.