How does the fragrance industry protect products that perfumers, chemists and formulators create? Historically, the focus was on keeping secrets. Today, however, analytical techniques such as gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have made it possible to “reverse engineer” products. Using these techniques, a good analytical chemist can determine with certainty the blend of ingredients that are present in a particular product, making the unauthorized user’s job a substantially easier undertaking.
