In short
Methyl benzoate is a simple aromatic ester found in tuberose, ylang ylang and feijoa. It has a sweet, fruity-floral odour with a phenolic, medicinal edge.
What Methyl Benzoate smells like
Methyl benzoate is a strong, medicinal-phenolic, sweet-floral material. Symrise describes it as strongly phenolic, close to cresol and wintergreen oil, and sweet-floral like ylang-ylang and tuberose; its taste is medicinal-balsamic and slightly fruity in dilution. Other descriptions add a dry-fruity side, cherry and almond, while one supplier hears fresh green wintergreen, eucalyptus and mint. It occurs naturally in ylang-ylang, tuberose and Michelia. Harsh on its own, it reads as natural inside a white floral.
- Leading note
- Medicinal sweet floral
- Clear facets
- Phenolic, wintergreen-like
- Supporting facets
- Ylang, tuberose
- Faint facets
- Dry fruity, cherry
- Character
- Sharp, harsh, sweet, diffusive
What makes Methyl Benzoate distinctive
The medicinal edge of white flowers: the note that gives ylang and tuberose their slightly wintergreen, narcotic sharpness.
Where the descriptions disagree: One supplier describes a fresh green wintergreen-eucalyptus-mint odour rather than a sweet floral.
How Methyl Benzoate is used
Used in traces in white floral accords — ylang, tuberose, narcissus — where it adds natural sharpness; it easily dominates.
Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend).
How Methyl Benzoate differs from similar materials
- Ylang Ylang Oil
- Methyl benzoate is one of ylang-ylang's natural constituents — its medicinal sharpness on its own, without the oil's creamy, banana and clove body. (compared directly by a cited source)
- Tuberose Absolute
- A perfumer links tuberose's slightly medicinal edge to methyl benzoate and methyl salicylate; the absolute adds creaminess, coconut and indole. (compared directly by a cited source)
- Methyl Salicylate
- Methyl salicylate is wintergreen itself; methyl benzoate is a sweeter floral with a cresol-wintergreen phenolic side.
- Ethyl Benzoate
- Ethyl benzoate is fruitier, cherry and grape; methyl benzoate is more floral and phenolic, ylang and tuberose.
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
Powerful in the top; use sparingly.
Identity and classification
- Type
- Aroma chemical
- Origin
- Occurs in nature
- Odour family
- Floral / Fruity
- Note position
- Top to heart note
- Physical form at room temperature
- Liquid
- Also known as
- Niobe oil
- CAS number
- 93-58-3
- Molecular formula
- C8H8O2
- Molecular weight
- 136.15 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- methyl benzoate
The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 7150, 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 (2,105 reports): H302 harmful if swallowed (99.7% of reports). 7 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
-
Methyl Salicylate
Aroma chemical · Aromatic / Floral — wintergreen, minty, sweet, medicinal
-
Benzyl Acetate
Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — jasmine, fruity, pear, sweet
-
Tuberose Absolute
Absolute · Floral / Gourmand — white floral, creamy, narcotic, buttery
-
Ylang Ylang Oil
Essential oil · Floral / Spicy — floral, creamy, sweet, banana
Methyl Benzoate is also suggested as a partner on the pages for cis-3-Hexenyl Tiglate and Ethyl Benzoate.
Used in formulas and accords
Used in 6 published formulas
Methyl Benzoate is an ingredient in 2 perfume formulas, 3 accords and 1 base in the Formula & Accord Library.
Community formulas
RUŌOD House Originals
Original compositions by RUŌOD House.
Further reading
Questions about Methyl Benzoate
Is Methyl Benzoate natural or synthetic?
The molecule occurs in nature. Commercial Methyl Benzoate may be made by synthesis or obtained from natural sources, so check the supplier's specification if the distinction matters to you.
What is the CAS number of Methyl Benzoate?
93-58-3. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.
Which published formulas use Methyl Benzoate?
Methyl Benzoate is used in 6 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library, including Gardenia Accord, Gasoline Accord and Honeysuckle Base. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.
Sources
- PubChem — compound 7150, 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 — methyl benzoate (with Symrise's description) — odour database.
- Scentspiracy — Methyl benzoate — distributor's description.
- Wikipedia — Methyl benzoate — published perfumery reference.
- Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 20 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.