Compounds · Aldehydes · Fatty acid derivatives
Decanal
Also known as Aldehyde C-10 · Capraldehyde — an analysis may use any of these names
Orange peel, slightly fatty, waxy. The strange fatty note in Vietnamese coriander is this compound.
- CAS
- 112-31-2
- Formula
- C10H20O
- Molar mass
- 156.27
- Odour threshold
- 2 ppbin water
- Boiling point
- ≈ 208 °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. It makes up less than one per cent of orange peel oil but decides its sharp part.
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
A straight-chain ten-carbon aldehyde with no strongly polar group, but long enough to boil at around 208 degrees.
Where else you meet it
Orange peel, coriander leaf, culantro, and many classic aldehydic perfumes.