HEPTYL BUTYRATE

Description

Heptyl cinnamate has a green, leafy odor with a secondary hyacinth note. Heptyl cinnamate is prepared by esterification of nheptanol with cinnamic acid.

Description

Heptyl butyrate is a colorless liquid with a chamomile-like odor that is found abundantly in fresh apples and plums. In late summer, as these fruits begin to fall from trees, swarms of yellowjackets (Vespula spp.) can appear.
In the late 1960s, Entomologist Harry G. Davis, chemist Martin Beroza, and colleagues at the US Department of Agriculture were researching attractants for the little housefly (Fannia canicularis) when they discovered the effect of heptyl butyrate on yellowjackets. But the details of this attraction were not investigated until 2016, when Peter Landolt at the USDA (Wapato, WA) and Q.H. Zhang at Sterling International (Spokane, WA) studied various potential attractants and reported that heptyl butyrate was superior to other compounds for attracting Vespula and other wasp genera.
In 2009, a fact sheet issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency stated that heptyl butyrate is a safe, food-grade compound. Earlier that year, EPA had issued a pesticide registration for the compound to be used as an attractant in yellowjacket traps and other devices.
Heptyl butyrate also occurs in babaco (an Ecuadorean hybrid papaya-like fruit in the genus Vasconcellea). So if you like the smell of fresh fruit, you and yellowjackets are in good company.

Chemical properties

Heptyl butyrate has a fruity, chamomile-like odor and a sweet, green, tea-like taste suggestive of plum.

Occurrence

Reported found in fresh apple, grilled beef, fresh plum, plumcot and babaco fruit (Carica pentagona Heilborn)

The Uses of HEPTYL BUTYRATE

could find use in perfume compositions, but it is rarely mentioned as a perfume material. It introduces interesting nuances in fruity-green topnote complexes for Chypre or Aldehyde-types, and it can be used as a modifier in “Cucumber”’ odor, sometimes called for in certain cosmetic preparations. It blends excellently with Clary Sage and with the new American Mentha citrata oils (Todd # 664 in particular). In flavor compositions, this ester adds freshness and fruity-green aroma to imitation Raspbemy, Apricot, Melon, Plum, and in floral and Violet type flavors. The concentration used is normally very low, about 0.5 to 3 ppm in the finished product.

Preparation

From n-heptyl alcohol and butyric acid in the presence of HCl.

Definition

ChEBI: Heptyl butyrate is a fatty acid ester.