Where is Linalool found?

In this library, Linalool contributes to the smell of pomelo blossom, white champaca, toasted coriander seed, ylang-ylang and 1 other entries.

What is the boiling point of Linalool?

About 198 °C — medium, the body of the smell.

What is the odour threshold of Linalool?

6 parts per billion in water — the lowest concentration at which the human nose still detects a smell.

Compounds · Alcohols · Terpenoid pathway

Linalool

Also known as Linalol · β-Linalool · 3,7-Dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol — an analysis may use any of these names

Floral, slightly sweet, flat and almost without edges. On its own it is rather faint; its job is to be the ground the other components stand on.

CAS: 78-70-6
Formula: C₁₀H₁₈O
Molar mass: 154.25
Odour threshold: 6 ppbin water
Boiling point: ≈ 198 °C at atmospheric pressure

Volatility

150 °C290 °C

Threshold

most potentleast potent

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 occurs

Each bar spans the lowest to the highest value measured across published lots. The dot is the mean. A wide range is not an error — it is the mark of a natural raw material.

0 7 13 20 %

Cold-pressed lemon peel 1 lot

0.4–0.4
mean 0.4

Must be declared on the label

This compound is on the list of allergens that must be declared individually on cosmetic labels in the European Union, as one of the 24 substances listed before Regulation 2023/1545. Name to use on the label: LINALOOL.

The declaration threshold is 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products. This is an EU requirement — see the regulations page for why it matters beyond the EU. This is not legal advice.

Where it comes from

Biosynthetic pathway: Terpenoid pathway — plants build them from identical five-carbon blocks.

About the threshold figure

Moderate. Published values range from a few parts per billion to a few dozen.

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

Its hydroxyl group can form hydrogen bonds, so it is held back much longer than hydrocarbons of the same size. That is why it sits in the middle of the band rather than at the start.

Where else you meet it

More than two hundred plant species, from lavender to pomelo blossom to cassia leaf. It is one of the most widespread molecules among flowering plants.

Dictionary entries that mention this compound

Reading the table above correctly

Percentage is not odour strength. The human nose’s detection thresholds differ by up to millions of times from one compound to another.

A wide range is normal. A supplier who publishes identical figures year after year is something to question, not something to trust.