Introduction To many chemists, the most interesting topic is not how electrons get excited to new energy levels or even how fast they can travel in a vacuum. In fact, some chemists are enthralled by how the addition, deletion, or alteration of a particular group upon a molecule can dramatically change the perceived odor of a particular substance. Keeping this notion in mind, we will investigate the characteristics of several different chemicals and see if we can classify them entirely by their smell. In the early 1970s, a man by the name of John Amoore published an article in the highly acclaimed journal Nature. Within this article, Amoore revised the stereochemical theory of odor which suggested that there are only five receptors of smell for every substance. A gross oversimplification, but we’ll use it for now. Specifically, a list of the receptors, the shapes of the molecules they interacted with, and the odor associated with them is given below:
Today it is known that there are over 1,000 smell receptors. Yes, way more than the original five proposed! However, Amoore was not far off, as we will see how distinct shapes, as well as alterations to a molecule’s structure, affect how a particular chemical’s odor is perceived. For example, it was only recently that perfume chemists figured out that the addition of an organic hydrocarbon to a molecule is one way to increase a fragrance’s potency. What follows below is an in depth table revealing a great deal of information about twelve well known molecules and their respective smells. It will be your job to identify which unknown is which.
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Chemical Structure and Smell?
