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Shouldn't Hydrogen sulfide be part of this list? - MarXidad (talk) 15:03, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

'A chemical compound has a smell or odor when two conditions are met'? Surely the human olfactory system also needs to be set up to sense them?! --Oolong 12:07, 4 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Why is eugenol listed as an aldehyde? Isn't it an alcohol? --71.227.190.111 04:21, 27 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . Maximum and careful attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories , but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 00:59, 4 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is this section supposed to be exhaustive? --Abdull (talk) 11:44, 2 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are thousands of chemical compounds used for their aromas, so the list should be restricted in some way to the more notable or commonplace ones. -- Ed (Edgar181) 12:03, 2 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, for example, there is an entire article on Esters which amongst other things has a comprehensive list of examples, so should not that paragraph simply have a quick summary sentence then a redirect to that separate article? Old_Wombat (talk) 08:30, 19 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I was looking for some journal articles for work and came across this chapter of this book to have a rather similar definition for "aroma compound" which I'll quote: "Aroma compounds, also known as fragrances, odorants, or flavors, are chemical substances with sensorial properties showing a wide variety of odors" but I'm hesitant about adding that as citation due to it being not at all identical, plus the issue of "Which is first" to which I lack the tool and time to dig through the article's history. Should I add though? Mnmt.Sw (talk) 13:37, 27 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Mnmt.Sw. We should be cautious of a reference that appears to be interpreted from alternative medicine (based on quackery), but I am unable to read the whole source, as it is a subscription which makes it generally unreadable for most users. With this edit, I added accessible reviews from the food science literature, and hope this revision helps to satisfy content and sources you were seeking. Zefr (talk) 15:57, 27 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Zefr, and thank you for getting back to me and my apology that I wasn't able to respond as quickly. As for the whole source, I was able to find it on LibGen using the ISBN (978-0-12-816453-2), although it can be problematic due to legal issues surrounding the site, but do you mind checking it out now that the paywall issue is (somewhat) resolved? And indeed, you have a valid point that we should cautious, a point that I did in fact missed intially. Thank you for pointing it out! Mnmt.Sw (talk) 04:58, 29 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The book is a problem both because of its alternative medicine emphasis (untrustworthy), its paywall which nearly all Wikipedia readers will be unable to access, WP:READER, and the hesitance many would have in using LibGen (as I do). Better to use commonly available, inline citations that anyone can read, so the solution would be to copyedit and use easily-accessed sources, as I tried to do with this edit. Zefr (talk) 15:10, 29 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

This article is trying to cover too many topics and might inhibit the growth of relevant content. Also it is mostly a pretty big list that could grow further. I dont have a perfect solution, but here are some thoughts:

• redirect most content to Fragrance (which redirects here), Fragrances are pleasant by definition. It is the basis of a big industry.
• comment: "Aroma compound" seems awkward to me. I seldom hear it.
• convert odorant to odorizer (or the reverse). It focuses on usefully smelly compounds, like the thiols, that are put into natural gas.
• Figure out what to do with the list of fragrances/aromas, which could be further expanded. Should fragrances contain this list?

I dont know what to do with the entries of useless stinky compounds (thioacetone). Maybe just remove that. They attract attention from giggling nonchemists, but I guess that constituency is valid. Maybe relocate some into Odor detection threshold.--Smokefoot (talk) 13:44, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Good proposal, Smokefoot. Happy to support your recommendations and work with you on this. Zefr (talk) 18:46, 26 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

List of fragrances by chemical structure or similar might be a target for the last bullet point; List of fragrances redirects to the list of perfumes (brands) which could include a hatnote to this list of compounds. -- Reconrabbit 15:03, 29 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That idea would be a good solution for this quandry. But I was under the impression that Wikipedia does not like articles that are lists. On a related topic, I tried to create an article that was a gallery (see User:Smokefoot/sandbox3 for the core part of my proposed article), but it was not allowed because the Encyclopedia does not like gallery articles.--Smokefoot (talk) 17:10, 29 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Makes sense to me. What do you propose to do with non-fragrance flavor compounds such as alkylpyrazines? E.g. should they be covered in this article, alongside a rename to Flavor and fragrance compounds? Some relevant ngrams: [1], [2], [3]. Preimage (talk) 08:58, 2 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Any help or further advice is very welcome. I created Stench compound (see next section) for the bad-smelling stuff. In my casual searches, I have not encountered suitableoverview articles on stench compounds, upon which the lede could rest. I would guess that reviews and books have been written on amine odors, putrefication, stench, thiol-like odors. Also it would be nice to link stench to economic, health, and environmental spheres. My guess is that the economics are associated with industries that produce stenches inadvertently (paper industry, maybe sewage plants). Health is probably related to H2S, which is pervasive. Environmental impacts of stench? Probably none. For fragrance compound, some ideas:

• something about the industry
• threshold detection (I have a hard time believing the figures in the table)
• function of fragrances like insect attraction to blossoms.

Problem: flavorings vs fragrance. You are correct that there may be a disconnect, but I think that Joe-sixpack and Jane-sixpack will want to read about fragrances and not the mix. Also the physical aspects are pretty different. Esters are major fragrances, but they dont have a pleasant taste.

Problem: drive by editors adding their fav fragrance to an already long list, such that the list becomes long and indiscriminate.

Yes, we need to mention the pyazines to the stench article.--Smokefoot (talk) 16:45, 2 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Here's the problem that I am trying to solve and a proposed solution. Background: see previous discussion under "Split proposal".

• Fragrance compound currently lists a lot of compounds with unpleasant odors (amines including rotten fish, cadaverine, putrecine]]) and some stinkers that are not used for anything.
• So I propose to convert Stench from a redirect to odor to a self-standing article.
• While I am on the subject, I do know that the spray from skunks has attracted a fair bit of scientific attention. But skunk refers to the spray but without any chemical speciation (several compounds comprise the odor). So within the proposed stench would be sections:
  • amines (including pyridines, I guess)
  • organosulfur compounds, with guidance to odorants and a paragraph on skunk spray.
  • brief mention of organophosphorus and organoarsenic compounds.
  • others: some alkenes of the norbornene variety have received notoriety.

Bottom line: create Stench.--Smokefoot (talk) 03:59, 31 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]