Scent through the looking glass.
In 1896, Tiemann first raised the question of whether or not enantiomers might exhibit different odors. The classic work of von Braun should have settled the issue in 1927 but the debate continued for decades, often rather acrimoniously. Various factors such as purity of samples and subjectivity of odors provided the confusion necessary to perpetuate disagreement. Nowadays, we have enough good-quality data to know that sometimes, absolute configuration affects odor perception and sometimes it does not. We are, therefore, left with some interesting academic and commercial questions to be addressed.
Sell
Charles S
CS
Quest International, Ashford, Kent, TN24 0LT, England.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009812:Odorants; D012903:Smell; D013237:Stereoisomerism