Vanilla is utilised as a note in perfumery to provide fragrances with a delicious creamy sweetness. Traditionally, this was achieved through the use of vanilla bean extract, but its expense meant it was not a particularly commercially viable ingredient.
Fortunately, in the late 1800s scientists discovered a method to synthesis Vanillin, the main fragrant component of vanilla bean extract. With the ability to produce this molecule synthetically for low cost and on a large scale, vanilla became a commercial staple within perfumery.
Vanillin is still used to this day as the primary source of a vanilla note within perfumes. However, alternatives have since been discovered; one such example is Ethyl Vanillin (an entirely synthetically derived molecule, not found in nature, and which differs from Vanillin by only 3 atoms) which has a vanilla odour 3 times stronger than its counterpart!
