Compounds · Alcohols · Fatty acid derivatives
1-Octen-3-ol
Also known as Matsutake alcohol · Cồn nấm — an analysis may use any of these names
Freshly snapped mushroom, damp, slightly metallic. The human nose picks it up at extremely low concentration, so it is both a smell and an alarm bell.
- CAS
- 3391-86-4
- Formula
- C8H16O
- Molar mass
- 128.21
- Odour threshold
- 1 ppbin water
- Boiling point
- ≈ 175 °C at atmospheric pressure
For this compound the two axes sit close together. Volatility tells you whether it leaves a surface early or late; the threshold tells you how much of it the nose needs before it notices.
Where it comes from
Biosynthetic pathway: Fatty acid derivatives — enzymes cut fat chains into fragments you can smell.
About the threshold figure
Low. This is the compound behind the typical mushroom smell, and it is detected at very small concentrations.
Published thresholds differ by several orders of magnitude, because of differences in measuring method, sample purity and panel. The figure here is an order of magnitude for relative comparison, not a measurement. We give it only for compounds where the literature broadly agrees — 52 of the 106 compounds in the library. The rest are left blank rather than guessed.
Why it sits where it does
An eight-carbon alcohol with a double bond at the end of the chain. Don’t confuse it with 1-octen-3-one, a ketone with the same skeleton that is also in this library and also smells of mushroom — but many times stronger.
The hydroxyl group holds it back a little, but the molecule is still small, so it evaporates fairly early. Its extremely low detection threshold makes up for how quickly it leaves.
The two compounds both boil at about 175 degrees even though one is an alcohol and the other a ketone — the 1-octen-3-one page explains why.
Where else you meet it
Freshly snapped mushrooms, cooking oil starting to go rancid, mouldy grain and cereals.