Comparison of the formation of peppery and woody sesquiterpenes derived from α-guaiene and α-bulnesene under aerial oxidative conditions.

Deuterium-labeled guaiane derivatives and their precursors, namely, d5-2R-rotundol (11a), d5-2S-rotundol (11b), d5-bulnesone (14), d5-2R-bulnesol (16), d7-α-guaiene (10), and d7-α-bulnesene (15), were synthesized in good yields as GC-MS internal standards for comparing the behavior of α-guaiene (1) and α-bulnesene (5) under autoxidative conditions. It was found that approximately 99% of α-guaiene coated onto filter paper and exposed to air at ambient temperature was autoxidized after 48 h and up to 7% of rotundone (3) and 0.6% of rotundols (2a/b) were formed during this period. Autoxidation of α-bulnesene (5) was considerably slower, with approximately 80% remaining after 2 days and yielding less than 1.5% of α-bulnesone (7) and 0.3% and 0.9% of bulnesols 6a and 6b, respectively, after 5 days. The results indicate the feasibility of rapid changes of aroma profiles of herbs and other plant materials over time when exposed to air.