4-Ethylguaiacol

What 4-Ethylguaiacol smells like

4-Ethylguaiacol is spicy and clove-like with medicinal, woody and sweet vanilla nuances, in a fragrance supplier's listing; another lists spicy, smoky, bacon, phenolic and clove. At 5–10 ppm its taste is dry, smoky, clove, phenolic and vanilla-like with tobacco and woody notes and a burnt-bacon, oily aftertaste, in ChemicalBook's data. Its reported detection threshold is in the tens of parts per billion.

Leading note

Smoky clove

Clear facets

Bacon

Supporting facets

Phenolic, medicinal

Faint facets

Vanilla, tobacco

Character

Warm, smoky, potent

• smoky
• clove
• bacon
• phenolic

What makes 4-Ethylguaiacol distinctive

Smoked bacon and clove: the meatier, spicier smoke phenol.

How 4-Ethylguaiacol is used

Used in traces for smoky, spicy and leathery effects, and in smoke and meat flavours.

Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend).

How 4-Ethylguaiacol differs from similar materials

Guaiacol*

Guaiacol is narrower, clove and vanilla, and more potent; 4-ethylguaiacol is smokier and bacon-like. (compared directly by a cited source)

Eugenol

Eugenol is plain clove, warm and medicinal; 4-ethylguaiacol adds smoke and a bacon-like note.

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

Very powerful; work from dilution.

Identity and classification

Type

Aroma chemical

Origin

Occurs in nature

Odour family

Leather / Spicy

Note position

Heart note

Physical form at room temperature

Liquid

Also known as

4-Ethyl-2-methoxyphenol

CAS number

2785-89-9

Molecular formula

C9H12O2

Molecular weight

152.19 g/mol

IUPAC name

4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 62465, 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 (1,595 reports): H302 harmful if swallowed (93.1% of reports); H315 causes skin irritation (92.6% of reports); H319 causes serious eye irritation (91% of reports); H335 may cause respiratory irritation (90.9% of reports). 1 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

• Guaiacol

  Aroma chemical · Leather / Woody — smoky, phenolic, medicinal, woody

• Eugenol

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

• Birch Tar Oil (Rectified)

  Essential oil · Leather / Woody — smoky, leathery, tarry, phenolic

• Labdanum Absolute

  Absolute · Amber / Leather — amber, balsamic, leathery, animalic

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 4 published formulas

4-Ethylguaiacol is an ingredient in 1 perfume formula and 3 accords in the Formula & Accord Library.

Community formulas

• Mezcal Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “4-Ethyl Guaiacol”

• Tobacco Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “4-Ethyl Guaiacol”

• Vanilla Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “4 Ethyl Guaiacol”

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

• Pipe Smoke Orchard

  RUŌOD House Creation · listed as “4-Ethylguaiacol 1% DPG”, at 1% in DPG

Further reading

• Building a Leather Accord

  Leather styles — smoky, green-bitter, suede, animalic — their building blocks including treated tar oils and isobutyl quinoline, and how to build one.

Questions about 4-Ethylguaiacol

Sources

• PubChem — compound 62465, 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 — 4-ethyl guaiacol — odour database.
• ChemicalBook — 4-ethylguaiacol (CAS 2785-89-9) — odour database.
• Fraterworks — 4-ethyl guaiacol — distributor's description.
• Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 21 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.