Ethyl Vanillin, with CAS number 121-32-4, is a synthetic aroma chemical widely used in perfumery for its sweet, creamy, and vanilla-like scent profile. It is often employed as a flavoring agent in food products, but in fragrance formulations, it serves to enhance and round out compositions, particularly in gourmand and sweet accords. Ethyl Vanillin is typically used in lower concentrations due to its potency, and it can be found in a variety of fragrance types, including floral, oriental, and fruity blends. In terms of safety and regulatory considerations, Ethyl Vanillin is subject to IFRA guidelines, which may impose restrictions on its usage levels in certain applications to ensure consumer safety. As with many synthetic aroma chemicals, it is important for formulators to be aware of potential allergenic responses, although Ethyl Vanillin is not classified as a common allergen. Its versatility and appealing scent make it a popular choice among perfumers, contributing to the richness and complexity of fragrance formulations. — AI-generated summary, 2026-09-02.
Intensely sweet, creamy vanilla — noticeably richer, more chocolatey and more diffusive than natural vanillin. Has a slightly medicinal/phenolic edge in isolation that rounds into a warm, milky powdery sweetness on drydown.AI · claude-opus-4-7
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Other ingredients whose composition declares this material as a constituent. The percentage shown is the supplier-declared concentration in that parent.
| Ingredient | % | Range |
|---|---|---|
| BANANA | — | — |
| HELIOTROPE | — | — |
Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, page 556.
White or creamy-white crystal needles, flakes or crystalline powder.
Slightly soluble in water (about 1%), soluble in alcohol, diluted alcohol, propylene glycol, diluted propylene glycol, and in most perfume and flavor oils.
Intensely sweet odor, warm, slightly floral and with some resemblance to Vanilla in its creamy sweetness.
Intensely sweet, warm, creamy-Vanilla-like taste.
This aldehyde is widely used in perfumery as a sweetener and fixative, not only in very sweet type floral fragrances and the conventional fruity lipstick-type fragrances, but in general as part of the fixative element in perfume compositions where a creamy sweetness is desirable, particularly in combination with florals such as Ylang-Ylang, or with all members of the Eugenol family in Carnations.
This aldehyde is used very extensively in flavor compositions, mainly in imitation Vanilla, also in Chocolate, Cream-Soda, Butterscotch, and in almost any type of fruit flavor, Caramel, Nut, etc. as well as Rum, Butter, etc. as a sweetener, fixative and amplifier to the flavor composition.
1) by Ethylation of Protocatechualdehyde. 2) from Catechol monoethylether by treatment with Chloroform and Sodium hydroxide.