Compound Interest: Aroma Chemistry

Celebrating Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day) Chemistry with ICIQ

April 21, 2017 2Comments 0Likes 273Views

April 23 is Saint George’s Day, celebrated in particular by a number of countries and cities where Saint George is the patron saint. One of these is, of course, England, though here the celebrations tend to be quite muted and minimal, and certainly nothing in comparison to the merriment that heralds St Patrick’s Day. In Catalonia, however, it prompts a good deal more in the way of celebration, and I made this graphic for the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia to illustrate some of its facets.

Valentine’s Day Special: The Chemistry of Roses

February 14, 2017 1Comment 2Likes 320Views

Roses are the flower most closely associated with Valentine’s Day – and we’ve got chemistry to thank for both their colour and aroma! In this post we take a closer look at the chemical compounds involved.

Aroma Chemistry – The Smell of Freshly-Baked Bread

January 20, 2016 9Comments 2Likes 313Views

As we took a look at the complex chemistry of bread-making last week, this week it seemed to make perfect sense to look at some of the chemistry that results from putting the end result of that process into the oven! There are a host of compounds that contribute towards baked bread’s aroma; here we take a look at a selection of them, how they are formed, and what they contribute.

The Chemistry Behind the Smell of Wet Dogs

July 28, 2015 8Comments 1Like 310Views

Aroma Chemistry - Smell of Wet Dog — Click to enlarge

If you’re a dog owner, hot weather inevitably leads to wet dogs, particularly if you live near the sea, a river, or basically any other body of water that looks appealing to your canine companion. It’s probably not escaped your notice that dogs tend to smell pretty awful after getting wet. Why is that? Chemistry and biology combined can help explain.

Aroma Chemistry – The Smell of Toilets and Human Waste

The Chemistry of the Smell of Toilets & Human Waste

June 2, 2015 5Comments 1Like 396Views

Today’s post marks a slight detour for the aroma chemistry series. So far, we’ve look mainly at pleasant aromas, but today we turn to a major malodour: that of toilets, and, more specifically, human waste. It might seem like something of a childish subject, but there are some interesting chemical compounds present in the materials we expel from our bodies. There are are also reasons to examine these compounds, as we’ll discover.

The Chemical Compounds Behind the Aroma of Coffee

February 17, 2015 29Comments 1Like 361Views

Infographic on the aroma of coffee. Roasted coffee beans contain over 1000 chemical compounds, but not all of these are extracted during brewing. Polar molecules are more soluble in water and a greater proportion of them are extracted. Only a minority of the extracted compounds contribute to aroma, and this is dependent on both their concentrations and the threshold at which the human nose can detect them. The aroma varies in composition for different coffee beans. — Click to enlarge

Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur or completely unfussy about the manner in which you get your caffeine fix, there’s no denying that the smell of freshly-brewed coffee in the morning is an invigorating one. The chemistry behind this aroma, though, is far from simple; a complex collection of chemical compounds are responsible, and this graphic takes a look at a selection of these.