Damascenone

Damascenones are a series of closely related chemical compounds that are components of a variety of essential oils.

The damascenones belong to a family of chemicals known as rose ketones, which also includes damascones and ionones.

beta-Damascenone is a major contributor to the aroma of roses, despite its very low concentration, and is an important fragrance chemical used in perfumery.

[4] The next series of desaturation reactions is catalyzed by the enzyme ζ-carotene desaturase (ZDS) to produce neurosporene followed by lycopene.

[7][8] The proposed mechanism for the conversion of the allenic triol to the acetylenic diol is shown in Scheme 3.

Figure 1: GGPP Synthesis
Figure 2: Beta Carotene Synthesis
Scheme 1: Beta-Carotene Mechanism
Figure 3: Neoxanthin synthesis
Figure 4: Beta-damascenone synthesis
Scheme 3: Acetylenic diol mechanism
Scheme 4: Beta-damascenone mechanism