Compound library · Biosynthetic pathways
Fatty acid derivatives
Enzymes cut fat chains into fragments you can smell
10 compounds in the library
10 compounds follow this pathway
When plant or animal tissue is damaged, enzymes immediately cut the fatty acids in the cell membranes into shorter fragments. The result is the group of six-carbon compounds we call green leaf volatiles.
This is the pathway of injury and of immediacy. Freshly cut grass, a crushed leaf, a fruit just cut open — all three trigger the same mechanism within seconds.
The same pathway, with longer chains, gives the eight- to twelve-carbon aldehydes of citrus peel, and the lactones that give a sense of fattiness in coconut and milk.
Compounds that follow this pathway
| Compound | Chemical family | Boiling point | Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| cis-3-Hexenol | Alcohols | 156 °C | 70 ppb |
| 3-Octanone | Ketones | 167 °C | — |
| 1-Octen-3-ol | Alcohols | 175 °C | 1 ppb |
| 1-Octen-3-one | Ketones | 175 °C | 0.005 ppb |
| 3-Octanol | Alcohols | 175 °C | — |
| Decanal | Aldehydes | 208 °C | 2 ppb |
| Dodecanal | Aldehydes | 238 °C | 2 ppb |
| γ-Nonalactone | Lactones | 243 °C | — |
| cis-Jasmone | Ketones | 248 °C | — |
| δ-Decalactone | Lactones | 281 °C | — |
Three axes, three questions
This library classifies compounds along three axes, and each answers a different question.
Boiling point tells you when you smell a compound — early or late on the smelling strip. Chemical family tells you how it behaves — stable or fragile, and how to recognise it on an analysis. Biosynthetic pathway tells you where it comes from.
The third axis is the explanatory one. The other two describe how compounds cluster into groups; this one says why they cluster that way.