Цедрол

Pure cedrol is almost scentless. This is the paradox: a major contributor to the tenacity of cedarwood oil barely registers on a blotter strip in isolation. What it contributes is not character but duration, a dry, soft woody murmur that persists for days. The Good Scents Company records 400 hours of substantivity at 20% in dipropylene glycol.

Under ISO 4724, cedrol makes up 16 to 25% of Virginia cedarwood oil (Juniperus virginiana), alongside α-cedrene with β-funebrene (20 to 35%) and thujopsene (10 to 25%). For Chinese cedarwood oil (Cupressus funebris), ISO 9843 sets cedrol at 10 to 20%. The molecule crystallises out of crude oil at room temperature as white, waxy plates. PubChem gives a melting point of 86 °C, and commercial grades are listed from 77 °C. This crystallisation behaviour is exploited industrially: cooling crude cedarwood oil precipitates cedrol, which is then filtered, washed and recrystallised.

In the perfumer’s palette, cedrol functions as a fixative and volume builder rather than a headline note. It extends the woody phase of a composition without adding colour or sweetness. It is also the starting material for two important derivatives: cedryl acetate (CAS 77-54-3), made by acetylation with acetic anhydride, which adds a softer, more diffusive woody-amber quality; and Cedramber (cedrol methyl ether, CAS 19870-74-7), produced by methylation, which pushes the molecule toward dry ambergris territory.

Beyond perfumery, cedrol has documented pharmacological activity. In a study of 26 volunteers, inhaled cedrol lowered heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and respiratory rate, a shift toward parasympathetic activity. In laryngectomised subjects, who breathe through an opening in the neck rather than the nose, it still lowered blood pressure, though heart rate and breathing rate did not change significantly; the authors point to an action through the lower airway and lungs. In rats, it prolongs pentobarbital-induced sleep, and the effect persisted after the sense of smell was impaired.

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Related: Australian Blue Cypress · Cedar · Cedarwood · Cedrene · Cedryl Acetate · Cypress · False Cypress · Himalayan Cedar

Sources

1. Cedrol, The Good Scents Company
2. ISO 4724:2004, Oil of cedarwood, Virginian (Juniperus virginiana L.), iTeh Standards preview
3. ISO 9843:2002, Oil of cedarwood, Chinese type (Cupressus funebris Endlicher), iTeh Standards preview
4. Cedrol, PubChem CID 65575, NCBI
5. Dayawansa S. et al. (2003), Autonomic responses during inhalation of natural fragrance of Cedrol in humans, Autonomic Neuroscience 108:79
6. Umeno K. et al. (2008), Effects of direct cedrol inhalation into the lower airway on autonomic nervous activity in totally laryngectomized subjects, British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 65:188
7. Yada Y. et al. (2007), Overseas survey of the effect of cedrol on the autonomic nervous system in three countries, Journal of Physiological Anthropology 26:349
8. Kagawa D. et al. (2003), The sedative effects and mechanism of action of cedrol inhalation with behavioral pharmacological evaluation, Planta Medica 69:637
9. Eller F. J. and Taylor S. L. (2004), Pressurized fluids for extraction of cedarwood oil from Juniperus virginianna, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52:2335
10. Eller F. J. (2018), Eastern red cedar: Cedarwood oil extraction and bioactivity, USDA Agricultural Research Service
11. IFRA 52nd Amendment, End of Consultation Letter, 31 August 2026