Conformational Flexibility Of Musks

Musk odorants represent a class of fragrances which exhibit a warm, sensual, animalistic and natural scent, and were introduced into the perfume industry at the beginning of 20th century. Structurally, musk odorants are remarkably diverse, including macrocyclic molecules, polycyclic benzene derivatives, nitro arenes, and linear aliphatic compounds, and therefore there is lack of knowledge of the molecular determinants that lead to musk odour. Moreover, some classes of musks such as nitro musks have been proved to be toxic, while other such as polycyclic musks resulted in bioaccumulation and biomagnification through the food chain. Macrocyclic musks, which are biodegradable and exhibit strong olfactory and fixative properties, have an expensive and complex synthesis. There is interest in the perfume industry to develop new musks, but these molecules are conformationally rich and there is very limited knowledge of their active conformations. This project aims to study the conformations of prototypical musks and gain an understanding of the interactions that determine them. This is essential for understanding odorant identification and, more broadly, for rational design and development of new odorants. To achieve our goals, we will use a cutting-edge structural technique, broadband rotational spectroscopy, which allows unambiguous identification of the different conformations present in a sample, in combination with molecular modelling.