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Musk Ketone Aroma Chemical
CAS# 81-14-1

Musk, Sweet, Fatty, Floral, Powdery

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Musk Ketone is a synthetic ingredient belonging to the nitro musk family, and it carries one of the most intriguing origin stories in the history of chemistry. In 1888, while studying derivatives of the explosive TNT, the chemist Albert Baur accidentally discovered a by-product with a distinctive odor, marking the emergence of artificial musk on the global fragrance map. At room temperature, this substance exists as pale yellow solid crystals, offering a humane and effective alternative to natural musk obtained from the musk deer. The arrival of Musk Ketone in the late 19th century marked a major turning point, providing perfumers with a highly stable material that could be widely used in traditional perfume, soap, and cosmetic formulas.

Description

Musk Ketone belongs to the musk and powdery olfactory family. It has a sweet, warm, strongly powdery scent with characteristic animalic nuances. Persistent in the base note, it serves as an excellent fixative and a blending material that helps soften and round out sharp floral notes. In Perfume and Flavor Chemicals, Steffen Arctander praised this material, describing it as having a “sweet musk odor, extremely tenacious” and as the “most widely used of all nitro musks.” Historically, the combination of Musk Ketone with aldehydes, jasmine, and rose helped create many classic fragrance structures. However, because of its solid physical form and poor solubility, users must first dissolve these crystals in solvents such as Benzyl Benzoate or DEP at concentrations of 1% to 10%, usually with gentle heat, to ensure the material becomes fully liquid before blending.

Applications

Although it once formed the foundation of legendary perfumes such as vintage versions of Chanel No. 5, the use of Musk Ketone today has been significantly reduced due to environmental and health safety concerns. IFRA has imposed very strict limits, allowing its use only at concentrations below 1.4% in leave-on skin fragrance products. The main reason is that Musk Ketone has the potential to bioaccumulate, is not readily biodegradable in the environment, and may remain in human fatty tissue if overused. In addition, storage requires care: the material should be kept in dark containers and protected from sunlight to prevent discoloration. Although it is no longer in its golden age, Musk Ketone is still recognized as an important legacy material that helped define the style of an entire era of 20th-century perfumery.

Technical standards

Solubility @25˚C

Solvent Solubility (g/L)
ethanol 19.75
methanol 16.66
isopropanol 15.64
water 0.91
ethyl acetate 341.8
n-propanol 20.09
acetone 246.81
n-butanol 18.92
acetonitrile 162.33
DMF 566.24
toluene 185.69
isobutanol 18.16
1,4-dioxane 354.6
methyl acetate 313.38
THF 948.14
2-butanone 225.42
n-pentanol 19.01
sec-butanol 21.37
n-hexane 8.42
ethylene glycol 15.05
NMP 1144.95
cyclohexane 17.0
DMSO 294.29
n-butyl acetate 162.45
n-octanol 20.82
chloroform 360.85
n-propyl acetate 131.71
acetic acid 107.41
dichloromethane 368.81
cyclohexanone 392.2
propylene glycol 13.72
isopropyl acetate 194.0
DMAc 667.88
2-ethoxyethanol 52.03
isopentanol 22.45
n-heptane 8.55
ethyl formate 142.67
1,2-dichloroethane 302.2
n-hexanol 37.83
2-methoxyethanol 96.16
isobutyl acetate 77.47
tetrachloromethane 58.74
n-pentyl acetate 95.5
transcutol 99.02
n-heptanol 22.56
ethylbenzene 76.35
MIBK 127.0
2-propoxyethanol 120.85
tert-butanol 31.57
MTBE 77.96
2-butoxyethanol 54.63
propionic acid 83.65
o-xylene 112.45
formic acid 47.64
diethyl ether 82.92
m-xylene 124.12
p-xylene 93.78
chlorobenzene 266.54
dimethyl carbonate 309.2
n-octane 4.14
formamide 92.38
cyclopentanone 752.82
2-pentanone 197.08
anisole 173.36
cyclopentyl methyl ether 310.9
gamma-butyrolactone 1016.68
1-methoxy-2-propanol 89.04
pyridine 383.5
3-pentanone 217.03
furfural 723.97
n-dodecane 3.19
diethylene glycol 88.16
diisopropyl ether 41.86
tert-amyl alcohol 36.63
acetylacetone 476.66
n-hexadecane 3.99
acetophenone 208.74
methyl propionate 334.83
isopentyl acetate 136.31
trichloroethylene 766.06
n-nonanol 21.45
cyclohexanol 53.32
benzyl alcohol 88.27
2-ethylhexanol 34.19
isooctanol 19.6
dipropyl ether 57.65
1,2-dichlorobenzene 282.04
ethyl lactate 70.61
propylene carbonate 515.26
n-methylformamide 186.41
2-pentanol 19.52
n-pentane 6.85
1-propoxy-2-propanol 79.83
1-methoxy-2-propyl acetate 246.35
2-(2-methoxypropoxy) propanol 81.9
mesitylene 72.47
ε-caprolactone 427.68
p-cymene 47.77
epichlorohydrin 820.03
1,1,1-trichloroethane 325.16
2-aminoethanol 19.53
morpholine-4-carbaldehyde 660.71
sulfolane 1022.21
2,2,4-trimethylpentane 7.63
2-methyltetrahydrofuran 433.85
n-hexyl acetate 117.46
isooctane 5.42
2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol 68.93
sec-butyl acetate 104.81
tert-butyl acetate 206.78
decalin 16.64
glycerin 35.26
diglyme 176.84
acrylic acid 113.44
isopropyl myristate 47.36
n-butyric acid 102.85
acetyl acetate 356.18
di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate 61.69
ethyl propionate 186.31
nitromethane 523.84
1,2-diethoxyethane 72.84
benzonitrile 178.39
trioctyl phosphate 39.71
1-bromopropane 106.25
gamma-valerolactone 808.24
n-decanol 16.73
triethyl phosphate 81.97
4-methyl-2-pentanol 19.76
propionitrile 93.84
vinylene carbonate 459.93
1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane 359.45
DMS 274.33
cumene 45.73
2-octanol 17.47
2-hexanone 110.33
octyl acetate 63.61
limonene 65.98
1,2-dimethoxyethane 173.18
ethyl orthosilicate 64.2
tributyl phosphate 49.27
diacetone alcohol 164.26
N,N-dimethylaniline 113.03
acrylonitrile 189.87
aniline 146.78
1,3-propanediol 27.89
bromobenzene 317.75
dibromomethane 205.7
1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane 459.32
2-methyl-cyclohexyl acetate 117.19
tetrabutyl urea 71.51
diisobutyl methanol 22.54
2-phenylethanol 118.93
styrene 94.46
dioctyl adipate 79.01
dimethyl sulfate 595.82
ethyl butyrate 122.53
methyl lactate 152.25
butyl lactate 60.28
diethyl carbonate 97.64
propanediol butyl ether 39.1
triethyl orthoformate 76.46
p-tert-butyltoluene 52.07
methyl 4-tert-butylbenzoate 153.25
morpholine 301.76
tert-butylamine 20.58
n-dodecanol 13.22
dimethoxymethane 299.17
ethylene carbonate 339.16
cyrene 180.1
2-ethoxyethyl acetate 158.94
2-ethylhexyl acetate 123.17
1,2,4-trichlorobenzene 330.85
4-methylpyridine 396.75
dibutyl ether 33.25
2,6-dimethyl-4-heptanol 22.54
DEF 313.21
dimethyl isosorbide 270.86
tetrachloroethylene 276.0
eugenol 116.61
triacetin 152.4
span 80 64.92
1,4-butanediol 14.42
1,1-dichloroethane 221.47
2-methyl-1-pentanol 24.05
methyl formate 231.32
2-methyl-1-butanol 22.95
n-decane 5.25
butyronitrile 74.76
3,7-dimethyl-1-octanol 25.28
1-chlorooctane 26.88
1-chlorotetradecane 12.66
n-nonane 4.77
undecane 4.0
tert-butylcyclohexane 12.4
cyclooctane 9.54
cyclopentanol 87.33
tetrahydropyran 226.58
tert-amyl methyl ether 89.45
2,5,8-trioxanonane 122.12
1-hexene 25.42
2-isopropoxyethanol 45.3
2,2,2-trifluoroethanol 108.29
methyl butyrate 191.45

Scent© AI

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  • CAS NUMBER

    81-14-1

  • FAMILIES

    Musky

  • BRAND

    Scent.vn

  • EVAPORATION RATE

  • Odor impact

    Medium est.

  • FLASH POINT

    171.01 ˚C est.

Olfactory Pyramid

base

Notes

Musk
Sweet
Fatty
Floral
Powdery

IFRA standard 51

Recommendation
Specification
Maximum acceptable concentrations in the finished product (%)
Category 1
Products applied to the lips
 See notebox Category 7A
Rinse-off products applied to the hair with some hand contact
 See notebox
Category 2
Products applied to the axillae
 See notebox Category 7B
Leave-on products applied to the hair with some hand contact
 See notebox
Category 3
Products applied to the face/body using fingertips
 See notebox Category 8
Products with significant anogenital exposure
 See notebox
Category 4
Products related to fine fragrance
 See notebox Category 9
Products with body and hand exposure, primarily rinse off
 See notebox
Category 5A
Body lotion products applied to the body using the hands (palms), primarily leave on
 See notebox Category 10A
Household care products with mostly hand contact
 See notebox
Category 5B
Face moisturizer products applied to the face using the hands (palms), primarily leave on
 See notebox Category 10B
Household care products with mostly hand contact, including aerosol/spray products (with potential leave-on skin contact)
 See notebox
Category 5C
Hand cream products applied to the hands using the hands (palms), primarily leave on
 See notebox Category 11A
Products with intended skin contact but minimal transfer of fragrance to skin from inert substrate without UV exposure
 See notebox
Category 5D
Baby Creams, baby Oils and baby talc
 See notebox Category 11B
Products with intended skin contact but minimal transfer of fragrance to skin from inert substrate with potential UV exposure
 See notebox
Category 6
Products with oral and lip exposure
 See notebox Category 12
Products not intended for direct skin contact, minimal or insignificant transfer to skin
 See notebox

Specification
Musk xylene (CAS number 81-15-2), which has been prohibited for use in fragrance compounds for environmental reasons (vPvB), can be present in Musk ketone as an impurity. Musk ketone should only be used if it contains less than 0.1% of Musk xylene.

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  • All orders will be processed within 1-2 business days from the time the order is confirmed.
  • Free shipping is available for international retail orders valued at 500 USD or more.
  • Delivery time is 1-3 business days for local areas, 3-7 days for suburban and nationwide deliveries, and 1-4 weeks for international orders.
  • You have 30 days from the date of receipt to initiate the return process.
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Certificates of Quality

  • Certificate of Analysis (COA)

    Provides information on the physical and chemical properties of the product.
    Download  

  • IFRA Certificate of Conformity

    Sets safety standards and guidelines for the product in manufacturing.
    Download  

  • Safety Data Sheet (SDS)

    Provides important safety guidelines for transporting, storing, and using the product.
    Download  
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