RUŌOD Lab

Yara Yara

Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity

orange blossom, sweet, grape, acacia — heart to base note.

Aroma illustration for Yara Yara: white orange blossoms, a bunch of grapes and fluffy yellow mimosa, for its orange blossom, grape and acacia notes. It illustrates smell associations, not the material or its source.Skeletal formula of Yara Yara (2-Methoxynaphthalene), C11H10O, drawn from PubChem's 2D record. Stereochemistry is not shown.
Aroma View: an illustration of what Yara Yara smells like (orange blossom, grape, acacia), drawn by RUŌOD Lab — not its appearance or its source.Skeletal formula drawn by RUŌOD Lab from PubChem's 2D record (CID 7119). Stereochemistry is not shown; the coloured background is decoration.
Images

By the RUŌOD Lab TeamRevision 1Updated

In short

Yara yara is the traditional name for 2-methoxynaphthalene, a crystalline aromatic ether with a sweet orange-blossom odour. It is a classic neroli and orange-blossom material for soaps.

What Yara Yara smells like

Yara yara (2-methoxynaphthalene, beta-naphthyl methyl ether) has an intensely sweet, floral odour suggestive of orange blossom and acacia. Arctander, quoted by The Good Scents Company, describes purified material as intensely sweet, orange blossom- and acacia-like, and commercial grades as harsher; suppliers give sweet, floral-neroli, orange blossom and acacia, and one notes it is free of naphthol off-notes. Its taste profile includes grape and plum. It is very diffusive and widely used in low-cost household fragrance and soap.

Leading note
Sweet orange blossom
Clear facets
Acacia
Supporting facets
Naphthyl
Faint facets
Grape, plum
Character
Intense, sweet, diffusive, harsh
  • orange blossom
  • sweet
  • grape
  • acacia

What makes Yara Yara distinctive

The intense, industrial orange blossom: very diffusive, with an acacia sweetness and a naphthalene edge that its ethyl relative, Nerolin Bromelia, softens.

How Yara Yara is used

Used in soap, detergent and household fragrance for a cheap, powerful orange-blossom note.

Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend); fixative (slow to evaporate; helps a blend last and holds lighter notes).

How Yara Yara differs from similar materials

Nerolin Bromelia
A distributor describes yara yara as the most intense and industrial of the naphthyl ethers, with a harsh naphthalene edge; Bromelia is softer and rounder.
Methyl beta-Naphthyl Ketone
The ketone is sweeter, more honeyed and powdery, with strawberry; yara yara is more intense, acacia-like and harsher.

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

A solid that must be dissolved.

Identity and classification

Type
Aroma chemical
Origin
Synthetic
Odour family
Floral / Fruity
Note position
Heart to base note
Physical form at room temperature
Solid
Also known as
2-Methoxynaphthalene, Methyl beta-naphthyl ether
CAS number
93-04-9
Molecular formula
C11H10O
Molecular weight
158.2 g/mol
IUPAC name
2-methoxynaphthalene

The CAS number, formula and molecular weight are taken from PubChem compound 7119, 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 (1,923 reports): H411 toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects (18.5% of reports). 1,504 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

  • Nerolin Bromelia

    Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — orange blossom, sweet, fruity, strawberry

  • Methyl beta-Naphthyl Ketone

    Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — orange blossom, sweet, neroli, strawberry

  • Neroli Oil

    Essential oil · Floral / Citrus — floral, citrus, orange blossom, honeyed

  • Methyl Anthranilate

    Aroma chemical · Floral / Fruity — orange blossom, grape, sweet, floral

Used in formulas and accords

Used in 3 published formulas

Yara Yara is an ingredient in 2 perfume formulas and 1 accord in the Formula & Accord Library.

Community formulas

RUŌOD House Originals

Original compositions by RUŌOD House.

Further reading

Questions about Yara Yara

Is Yara Yara natural or synthetic?

Yara Yara is synthetic — it is made by chemical synthesis.

What is the CAS number of Yara Yara?

93-04-9. It was checked against PubChem on 19 October 2026.

Which published formulas use Yara Yara?

Yara Yara is used in 3 published formulas in the RUŌOD Lab Formula & Accord Library: Mandarin Tiles, Orange Blossom Chalk and Tuberose Accord. Each is listed with a link under "Used in formulas and accords" on this page.

Sources

Your own records, next to the reference

Keep your own record of Yara Yara — supplier, cost, stock, dilutions and where it is used — in RUŌOD Lab's material library.

The material library All materials