Aldehyde C-14
Aldehyde C-14 is the perfumery trade name for gamma-undecalactone, and the name is a historical misnomer that has outlived every attempt to correct it. The material is not an aldehyde and does not contain fourteen carbons: it is a five membered cyclic ester with eleven carbons, named in the nineteenth century when its structure was not known and the aldehyde series was the fashionable class. The alternative trade name, peach aldehyde, at least describes what it smells of.
The odour is intensely peach like, with creamy, coconut and apricot facets and a fatty, slightly waxy underlay. It is one of the most recognisable single materials in the flavourist's palette, and it occurs naturally in peach, apricot, mango and in dairy products, where gamma lactones arise from hydroxy fatty acids during ripening and fermentation.
The material is a colourless to pale yellow oily liquid boiling near two hundred and eighty six degrees, practically insoluble in water and freely soluble in ethanol and in oils. Its low volatility makes it a persistent middle note rather than a top note, and it is stable in neutral and mildly acid conditions, though the lactone ring opens under alkali to the corresponding hydroxy acid, which has almost no odour.
We source bulk Aldehyde C-14 from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Beijing. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Colourless to pale yellow clear oily liquid |
| Odour | Intense peach and apricot, creamy and slightly fatty |
| Assay by Gas Chromatography | Not less than 98.0% |
| Isomeric Lactones | Not more than 1.5% total |
| Relative Density at 20 C | 0.941 to 0.947 |
| Refractive Index at 20 C | 1.451 to 1.457 |
| Acid Value | Not more than 1.0 mg KOH per g |
| Water Content | Not more than 0.3% |
| Solubility | Clear solution in one volume of 70% ethanol |
| Colour | Not more than 50 Hazen units |
| Heavy Metals as Lead | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
The high volume product is synthetic material at ninety eight percent or better by gas chromatography, sold as the neat liquid and specified on assay, on acid value and on the content of the isomeric lactones, since the delta lactone impurity shifts the profile from peach toward coconut. Flavour and fragrance grades differ mainly in colour limits and documentation rather than in assay.
Natural grade is a distinct and considerably more expensive product, produced by biotransformation from a castor oil derived fatty acid using a yeast, and is traded with isotope ratio evidence supporting the natural claim. Both grades are sold neat in lined drums and lacquered tins, and dilutions at one or ten percent in ethanol, triacetin or propylene glycol are bought by compounders dosing small quantities.
Applications
- Peach and apricot flavours, where it is the character impact compound and defines the profile
- Mango, passion fruit and tropical flavours, contributing a ripe, creamy body
- Dairy flavours for cream, butter and condensed milk, reproducing the natural lactone fraction of milk fat
- Coconut flavours, in combination with the shorter chain gamma lactones
- Ice cream and frozen dessert flavours, where its low volatility survives the cold serving temperature
- Confectionery and chewing gum, giving a persistent fruity middle note
- Beverage flavours in nectar and juice drink directions, dosed through an emulsion
- Bakery fillings and fruit preparations, where the lactone is stable through the heat step
- Fragrance compounding, as a creamy fruity note in fine perfumery and personal care
China Manufacturers of Aldehyde C-14
Top Aldehyde C-14 manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Gamma-undecalactone is a long established flavouring substance in the major markets. In the United States it holds FEMA GRAS status, and the Food and Drug Administration lists it among the synthetic flavouring substances and adjuvants permitted for use in food. In the European Union it appears on the Union list of authorised flavouring substances with its own FLAVIS number, which is the clearance that applies to food use, and no E number applies because flavourings sit outside the food additive framework.
JECFA has evaluated the substance within its group assessment of aliphatic lactones and raised no safety concern at the levels at which it is used as a flavouring. Material sold into perfumery is additionally covered by the fragrance industry standards for cosmetic ingredients, which sit alongside rather than within food law.
Manufacturing Process
The industrial route starts from undecylenic acid, which is itself obtained by pyrolysis of ricinoleic acid from castor oil, so the whole chain traces back to an agricultural feedstock. The acid carries a terminal double bond at the far end of the chain, and the synthesis consists of moving that double bond inward and closing the ring.
Undecylenic acid is treated with concentrated sulphuric acid, which protonates the double bond and allows it to migrate along the carbon chain through a series of carbocation intermediates. When the double bond reaches the position four carbons from the carboxyl group, the carboxylic acid oxygen attacks the adjacent carbon and the five membered lactone ring closes, which is thermodynamically the most stable outcome and drives the migration to completion. The reaction mass is quenched into water, the organic layer separated and washed with dilute alkali to remove residual acid and unreacted starting material, then dried. Vacuum fractional distillation removes the isomeric lactones and heavy residues, and the heart cut is passed through a polishing filter and packed under nitrogen.
