M. Chastrette et E. Rallet, STRUCTURE-MINTY ODOR RELATIONSHIPS - SUGGESTION OF AN INTERACTION PATTERN, Flavour and fragrance journal, 13(1), 1998, pp. 5-18
Structure-odour relationships for the minty note were studied using a
set of 150 compounds (68 minty and 82 not minty) with known olfactory
descriptions and chemical structures. The study was based on the HBD (
hydrogen bonding and dispersion) theory which considers that interacti
ons involving molecules and receptor sites are mainly hydrogen bonds a
nd dispersion forces. All the compounds of the set were examined and a
combination of direct comparisons and chi-square tests allowed identi
fication of relevant structural elements for the minty note. Twenty-fo
ur compounds (8 menthol isomers, 4 menthone isomers and 12 carveol and
carvone derivatives) were chosen for their very precise olfactory des
cription and because they constitute 12 enantiomeric pairs. Their low-
energy conformations were computed using the Sybyl force field. Superi
mpositions on reference compounds of the likely conformations of each
enantiomer were made using the Sybyl package, taking into account rele
vant structural elements previously identified. These comparisons show
ed that substituents in minty compounds must meet precise geometrical
requirements and that, in spite of differences of location and nature
for the functional oxygen group, they can receive a hydrogen bond from
the same hypothetical atom of the receptor sites. Finally, from these
structural and geometrical characteristics, an interaction pattern wa
s proposed for the minty odour. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.