The modern fragrances made with synthetic musk
were born from experiments with explosives. Thanks to this, the rare male musk
deer was saved from extinction.
Musk is a substance with a strong and
distinctive odor that is widely used in the manufacturing of perfumes and
cosmetics. Originally, it was extracted from a gland located near the anus of
some mammals, especially the Siberian musk deer (Moschus moschiferus), a
small musk deer (not a cervid) with long tusks and nocturnal habits, which
inhabits the mountainous forests of northeastern Asia.
Male musk deer are known for their ability to
produce musk, which they use to attract females during the mating season. In
addition to the musk deer, other species such as the musk ox, muskrat, African
civet cat, musk duck (Biziura lobata), musk beetle (Calichroma
moschata), and other animals, as well as some plants, produce substances
with musk-like odors.
Arab perfumers in the 6th century were the
first to discover that diluting the unpleasant, dry contents of the small
capsule found near the anus of the musk deer not only produced a pleasant aroma
but, when added to perfumes, allowed the scent to last longer. Musk was even
incorporated into the mortar of important buildings to add a pleasant odor to
the environment. There was even a belief that the aroma had aphrodisiac
qualities and, therefore, increased the pleasure of erotic activities.
Europeans learned about perfumery from the
Arabs and recognized the value of adding musk to their products. The problem
was the scarcity of supply. Some musk-like fragrances were found in the
glandular secretions of other animals, but they were not the same as the real
thing.
In 1888, Albert Baur was working hard to make
things explode. Thirty years had passed since the creation of trinitrotoluene
(TNT), and scientists wanted a chemical substance with a greater explosive
effect. Baur thought that by adding four carbon atoms to the molecule, a
"butyl" group would increase its internal inflammability. Not only
did it not work, but what was worse: it stank!
As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver
lining: the idea turned out to be a failure, but Baur realized that the smell
of TNT resembled that of musk, showing that the aroma could be produced easily
and cheaply on a large scale. His chemical creation had a warm, sensual
fragrance that he named "Baur's musk." It would become the base for
many popular perfumes and mark the beginning of the multimillion-dollar
synthetic fragrance industry.
However, not everything smelled like roses.
When exposed to light, "nitromusks" caused skin rashes. Hope for
better synthetic musk was rekindled in the 1920s when Croatian chemist Leopold Ružička
identified the main component in the musk deer’s secretion, which turned out to
be a molecule with a basic structure of fifteen carbon atoms joined in a ring.
The discovery of "muscone" helped him win the 1939 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, but the ring structure proved too difficult to synthesize in the
laboratory.
As is often the case in scientific research, in
1935, thanks to serendipity, the solution came from an unexpected source. Wallace Carothers,
from the chemical company DuPont, had just invented nylon and, in the process,
had become an expert in joining small molecules to form chains (polymers).
Studying the structure of muscone, Carothers
wondered if he could use a similar reaction to join the ends of a carbon atom
chain to form a ring. It wasn’t long before "Astrotone" was born, the
first "macrocyclic" (big ring) musk. Its structure wasn’t exactly the
same as muscone, but it was close enough to be a commercial success. It is
still produced today under the patented name Musk T, which comes from
"musk," the English word for musk, and has nothing to do with whom
you might be thinking, no matter how repulsive it may seem.
The search for improved synthetic musk did not
end with Astrotone. By the end of World War II, synthetic chemistry had
advanced by leaps and bounds, and chemists refocused on the nitromusks to see
if they could be altered to reduce their photosensitizing property.
It turned out that the nitro groups in the
molecule were responsible for inducing photosensitivity in people. By
eliminating them, and making some adjustments to the basic structure, a new
class of synthetic musks called "polycyclics" (with several rings)
was created, which could be produced economically and incorporated into a wide
range of products. Today, a wide variety of synthetic musks are available for
perfumers to work with.
The musk deer must have breathed a sigh of relief, I suppose.
