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Musk ketone

SPECIFICATION
CAS
81-14-1
EC
Material type
other
Canonical source
document derived
Formulation

Usage guidance

Suggested min
Suggested max
Cost
Stock
Compatibility tags
fixativemuskpowdery
How it behaves

Olfactory profile

Family
floral
Note tendency
Base
Descriptors
floralsweetwarmmusky

A classic nitro musk with a sweet, powdery, slightly warm character. Softer and more rounded than Musk Xylene, with a candied, almost vanillic-powder facet and a clean laundry-musk undertone. Excellent fixative that lends smoothness and volume to floral and oriental bases.AI · claude-opus-4-7

Intensity
5 / 10
Tenacity
9 / 10
Volatility
2 / 10
Reverse-composition

Contained in

Other ingredients whose composition declares this material as a constituent. The percentage shown is the supplier-declared concentration in that parent.

Ingredient%Range
Orrisodore10–25%
Fleur De Tabac3–5%
Poivre Fort1–5%
Oeillet 2081–3%
chemicals · No. 2279

Arctander monograph

Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, page 983.

BASEG.R.A.S.
floralsweetwarmmusky
MW
BP
MP
137°C
Sp.Gr.
Refractive n
Rotation
Appearance

Pale yellowish platelets or crystalline powder.

Odor

Sweet and very tenacious musky odor with discrete animal note, less floral than Musk Ambrette. The characteristic note is the warm and mildly animal note.

Flavor

Sweet and mildly musky taste in concentra- tions lower than 40 ppm. Musk Ketone has less tendency of producing a bitter note than Musk Ambrette. Yet, Musk Ketone is not listed as G.R.A.S. by the American Federal Register.

Uses in perfumery

Musk Ketone is, with Ambrette and Xylol, one of the most frequently and widely used artificial musks. It is used in perfume composi- tions often in conjunction with Musk Ambret- te as part of the fixative complex for almost any fragrance type. However, it is particularly suitable for producing the desirable “powdery” note with Methylionones, Cinna- mic alcohol, Benzylsalicylate, etc. Concentra- tions vary from about 1° to more than 10% (in rare cases) in the fragrance formulation.

Uses in flavor

The title material has been used in flavor compositions at concentrations up to 20-45 ppm (in the finished product), mainly as a fixative and sweetener in chewing gums and other types of candy. The material is included in the “Chemicals Used in Food Processing” by the National Research Council, Washing- ton, DC, 1965, but Musk Ketone is not listed as G.R.A.S. in the latest summary of the F.E.M.A. or the Federal Register.

Production

Produced from tertiary-Butylxylene by Acetylation followed by Nitration.

Document-derived

IFRA restrictions

Specification
This material carries a uniform specification rather than per-category caps. Verify supplier material meets the criteria below before use.
Musk xylene (CAS number 81-15-2), which has been prohibited for use in fragrance compounds for environmental reasons (vPvB), can be present in Musk ketone as an impurity. Musk ketone should only be used if it contains less than 0.1% of Musk xylene.
CategoryKindMax %NotesSource
Category 1SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 2SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 3SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 4SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 5ASpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 5BSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 5CSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 5DSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 6SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 7ASpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 7BSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 8SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 9SpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 10ASpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 10BSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 11ASpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 11BSpecificationSee note above
DOC
Category 12SpecificationSee note above
DOC

Compliance-support only. Values resolved from the current IFRA corpus; each row cites the document excerpt it came from. Not a substitute for a qualified safety assessor.

Identity
Aliases · 12
1-[4-(1,1-Dimethylethyl)-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl]ethanone1-(4-tert-Butyl-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl) ethanone3,5-Dinitro-2,6-dimethyl-4-tert-butylacetophenone4'-tert-butyl-2',6'-dimethyl-3',5'-dinitroacetophenoneEthanone, 1-[4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl]-Musk ketone1-(4-tert-Butyl-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl) ethanone1-[4-(1,1-Dimethylethyl)-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl]ethanone3,5-Dinitro-2,6-dimethyl-4-tert-butylacetophenone4'-tert-butyl-2',6'-dimethyl-3',5'-dinitroacetophenoneEthanone, 1-[4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-dinitrophenyl]-Methylanthranilate
Compliance note. Restriction data is sourced directly from IFRA publications and preserved with its document excerpt. Perfume Foundry is a compliance-support tool — not a substitute for a qualified safety assessor (CPSR / PIF).