Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate

What Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate smells like

Phenoxyethyl isobutyrate (sold as Phenirat) is a sweet, fruity-floral ester with a rose and honey character. The Good Scents Company describes sweet, fruity and floral like rose, somewhat like honey; Moellhausen adds chamomile; Parchem and other suppliers describe fruity and sweet with green apple and powdery fruit-blossom notes. It is used as a fixative in rose and lavender perfumes. It is easily confused with phenylethyl isobutyrate, a different compound.

Leading note

Sweet rose-honey

Supporting facets

Green apple

Faint facets

Chamomile, powdery fruit blossom

Character

Soft, sweet, fruity, fixative

• rosy
• fruity
• honey
• soft

What makes Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate distinctive

A soft rose-honey fixative with a green-apple fruitiness — gentler and more persistent than the phenylethyl esters.

How Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate is used

Used as a fixative in rose and lavender compositions and for soft fruity notes.

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

How Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate differs from similar materials

Phenylethyl Isobutyrate

Often confused, these are different molecules. Phenylethyl isobutyrate is fruitier, with pear, tea and wine; phenoxyethyl isobutyrate is softer rose-honey with green apple, used as a fixative.

Each difference compares the published descriptions of the two materials. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Identity and classification

Type

Aroma chemical

Origin

Synthetic

Odour family

Floral / Fruity

Note position

Heart to base note

Physical form at room temperature

Liquid

Also known as

2-Phenoxyethyl 2-methylpropanoate

CAS number

103-60-6

Molecular formula

C12H16O3

Molecular weight

208.25 g/mol

IUPAC name

2-phenoxyethyl 2-methylpropanoate

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 61005, 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 report it as not meeting the GHS hazard criteria (1,678 of 1,680 reports). 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

• Phenylethyl Alcohol

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Green — rose, honeyed, soft, floral

• Phenylethyl Isobutyrate

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — rose, fruity, honey, peach

• Rose Oil (Rosa damascena)

  Essential oil · Floral / Fruity — rose, honeyed, spicy, fresh

• Citronellol

  Aroma chemical · Floral / Green — rosy, fresh, citrus, waxy

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 2 published formulas

Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate is an ingredient in 1 perfume formula and 1 accord in the Formula & Accord Library.

• Banana Bread

  Community Formula · listed as “Phenoxy Ethyl ISO Butyrate”

• Soy Sauce Accord

  Community Formula · Accord · listed as “Phenoxy Ethyl Isobutyrate”

Further reading

• How to Make a Rose Accord

  Build a rose accord from phenylethyl alcohol, citronellol and geraniol, add acetates and powerful traces from dilutions, and balance it by ratio trials.

• 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 Phenoxyethyl Isobutyrate

Sources

• PubChem — compound 61005, 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 — phenoxyethyl isobutyrate (with Moellhausen's description) — odour database.
• Parchem — phenoxyethyl isobutyrate — distributor's description.
• ChemicalBook — phenoxyethyl isobutyrate (CAS 103-60-6) — odour database.
• 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.