[1] Coffee furanone is less odorous than furfuryl mercaptan, which with an odor threshold of 0.005 ppb was the first high impact aroma chemical, but has a very pleasant sweet caramel character, with some nuttiness.

[2] Coffee furanone was synthesized in 1963 by Wynberg via acid-catalyzed ring closure of β-alkoxy diazoketones.

[3] Coffee furanone has also been prepared via the condensation of ethyl lactate and methyl acrylate in DMSO solution[4] and (under phase transfer conditions) in ionic liquids.

[7] Further approaches to the synthesis of coffee furanone involved the hydrolysis of the corresponding dithioketals[8] and the oxidation of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran employing lithium hypochlorite in the presence of ruthenium catalysts.

[9] The synthetic version of this natural flavorant and odorant is used in a variety of food and beverage applications, including coffee, nuts, cocoa, brandy, meat sauces and as a general food flavorant at a typical dosage (about 5-20 ppm), similar to the natural concentration (30 ppm) of coffee furanone in roasted coffee.