The search for new aroma chemicals is an ongoing program costing the industry millions of dollars every year. Even if a suitable molecule were found today, it probably would not be commercially available until the year 2000, why the delay?
From the date of patent filing, approximately three to five years can elapse before a new patent globally clears all the regulatory safety, process and production hurdles.
Then comes the difficult part in the life cycle of this new, patented aroma chemical. You have to get perfumers to use it. It is vey important that this novel ingredient be incorporated quickly into a successful formula because a return is needed on the investment while the aroma chemical remains captive and protected by the patent.
Although we must have creative chemists looking for new molecules and searching nature for ingredients and inspiration, a possible altemative approach to “new” aroma chemicals is to re-examine our existing inventory of about 5,000 items. Here are a few examples of “new” aroma chemicals.
