Amyl Salicylate

What Amyl Salicylate smells like

Amyl salicylate is a sweet, herbaceous-green, slightly floral salicylate with a clover character. Arctander, as reproduced by secondary sites, describes a sweet herbaceous-green, slightly floral odour with a very tenacious, somewhat woody-earthy, sweet drydown. Supplier profiles list herbal, floral-clover, azalea, green, sweet and even chocolate. Givaudan sells it under two CAS numbers as pentyl and 3-methylbutyl 2-hydroxybenzoate — the n-amyl and isoamyl esters — and describes a floral and sweet, herbaceous and balsamic character with a green undertone; Fraterworks calls it the classic orchid and clover synthetic.

Leading note

Herbal clover

Clear facets

Green

Supporting facets

Sweet floral, woody-earthy drydown

Faint facets

Chocolate

Character

Sweet, herbal, green, tenacious

• herbal
• clover
• floral
• sweet

What makes Amyl Salicylate distinctive

Clover. It is the greener, more herbaceous of the amyl salicylates — a summer-meadow sweetness rather than the orchid-like floralcy of the isoamyl ester.

Where the descriptions disagree: The commercial material is an isomer mixture: Givaudan names the n-amyl and isoamyl esters and Perfumer's Apprentice sells its "Amyl Salicylate FCC" as a 35/65 isomer mixture, while this record carries the n-amyl ester's CAS number, under which Fraterworks and others sell it. The ratio varies by maker and is not stated by the FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) grade.

How Amyl Salicylate is used

Used in fougère, clover, orchid and green-floral accords and very widely in soap and functional fragrance, where it blends and fixes.

Typical role: blender (smooths the joins between other materials).

How Amyl Salicylate differs from similar materials

Isoamyl Salicylate*

Suppliers describe the isoamyl ester as more orchid-like and balsamic, the amyl ester as greener and more herbaceous, like clover. (compared directly by a cited source)

Hexyl Salicylate

Hexyl salicylate is fainter, with a green, bark-like, azalea character; amyl salicylate is sweeter and more clover-like.

An asterisk marks a difference that a cited source states directly. The others compare the published descriptions of each material. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Formulation considerations

Stable in most bases.

Identity and classification

Type

Aroma chemical

Origin

Synthetic

Odour family

Floral / Green

Note position

Heart note

Physical form at room temperature

Liquid

Also known as

Pentyl salicylate

CAS number

2050-08-0

Molecular formula

C12H16O3

Molecular weight

208.25 g/mol

IUPAC name

pentyl 2-hydroxybenzoate

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 16299, whose own record lists this CAS number; checked 19 October 2026.

Safety and compliance

Hazard classification of the neat substance, as PubChem summarises it, read 26 October 2026. Companies notifying the ECHA C&L Inventory classify it (1,869 reports): H411 toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (76.4% of reports); H410 very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (23.2% of reports); H400 very toxic to aquatic life (19.3% of reports); H302 harmful if swallowed (17.6% of reports). 6 of the reports find it does not meet the hazard criteria. Unless it is harmonised, this is the notifiers' own classification, not a binding one.

This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.

Materials it works with

• Eugenol

  Aroma chemical · Spicy / Floral — clove, spicy, warm

• Benzyl Salicylate

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Powdery — balsamic, floral, faint, sweet

• Coumarin

  Aroma chemical · Powdery / Fougère — hay, sweet, almond, tobacco

• Isoamyl Salicylate

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Aromatic — herbal, floral, orchid, clover

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 5 published formulas

Amyl Salicylate is an ingredient in 1 perfume formula and 4 accords in the Formula & Accord Library.

Community formulas

• Hyacinth Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “Amyls Salicylate”

• Matcha Green Tea Accord

  Community Formula · Accord

• Pineapple Accord

  Community Formula · Accord

• Solar Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “Amyl Salicylate FFC (2050-08-0 /87-20-7)”

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

• Mimosa Draft

  RUŌOD House Original

Further reading

• Salicylates in Perfumery: Benzyl, Hexyl, Amyl and the Solar Accord

  Benzyl, hexyl, amyl and methyl salicylate in perfume: odor and roles, why a near-odorless blender matters, the solar accord, EU allergen status and records.

• Perfume Materials by Odor Family: A Formulator's Palette Map

  Which materials build each odor family — citrus, floral, woody, amber, musk and more — their usual roles, what to watch for, and links to each in depth.

Questions about Amyl Salicylate

Sources

• PubChem — compound 16299, checked 19 October 2026.
• PubChem — GHS classification (the ECHA C&L Inventory notifications and any harmonised EU entry), read 26 October 2026.
• The Good Scents Company — amyl salicylate — odour database.
• Premiere Peau — Amyl salicylate — published perfumery reference.
• Scent.vn — Amyl salicylate (quoting Arctander) — distributor's description.
• Givaudan — Amyl Salicylate — manufacturer's description.
• Perfumer's Apprentice — Amyl Salicylate FCC (Givaudan) — distributor's description.
• Fraterworks — Amyl Salicylate — distributor's description.
• Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 26 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.