Citral
Chemical compound
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Citral is an acyclic monoterpene aldehyde. Being a monoterpene, it is made of two isoprene units. Citral is a collective term which covers two geometric isomers that have their own separate names; the E-isomer is named geranial (trans-citral; α-citral[2]) or citral A. The Z-isomer is named neral (cis-citral; β-citral[2]) or citral B. These stereoisomers occur as a mixture, often not in equal proportions; e.g. in essential oil of Australian ginger, the neral to geranial ratio is 0.61.[3]
Geranial | |
Neral | |
| Names | |
|---|---|
| IUPAC name
3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienal | |
| Other names
citral geranialdehyde | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) |
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| ChEBI | |
| ChEMBL | |
| ChemSpider | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.023.994 |
| EC Number |
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| KEGG | |
PubChem CID |
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| RTECS number |
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| UNII | |
| UN number | 2810 |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) |
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| Properties | |
| C10H16O | |
| Molar mass | 152.24 g/mol |
| Appearance | Pale yellow liquid |
| Odor | Lemon like |
| Density | 0.893 g/cm3 |
| Boiling point | 229 °C (444 °F; 502 K) |
| Vapor pressure | 0.22 mmHg (20 °C) |
| −98.9×10−6 cm3/mol | |
| Hazards | |
| GHS labelling: | |
| Warning | |
| H315, H317 | |
| P261, P264, P272, P280, P302+P352, P321, P332+P313, P333+P313, P362, P363, P501 | |
| NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | |
| Flash point | 91 °C (196 °F; 364 K) |
| Related compounds | |
Related alkenals |
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Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Natural Occurrence
Citral is present in the volatile oils of several plants:[4][5][6]
- lemon myrtle (90–98%)
- Litsea citrata (90%)
- Litsea cubeba (70–85%)
- lemongrass (65–85%)
- lemon tea-tree (70–80%)
- Ocimum gratissimum (66.5%)
- Lindera citriodora (about 65%)
- Calypranthes parriculata (about 62%)
- petitgrain (36%)
- lemon verbena (30–35%)
- lemon ironbark (26%)
- lemon balm (11%)
- lime (6–9%)
- lemon (2–5%)
- orange
Of the many sources of citral, the Australian tree Backhousia citriodora (family Myrtaceae) is considered superior.[7]
Uses
Citral is a precursor in the industrial production of vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K.
Citral is also precursor to lycopene, ionone and methylionone.
Fragrances
Citral has a strong lemon (citrus) scent and is used as an aroma compound in perfumery. It is used to fortify lemon oil. (Nerol, another perfumery compound, has a less intense but sweeter lemon note.) The aldehydes citronellal and citral are considered key components responsible for the lemon note with citral preferred.[7]
It also has pheromonal effects in acari and insects.[8][9]
The herb Cymbopogon citratus has shown promising insecticidal and antifungal activity against storage pests.[10]
Food additive
Citral is commonly used as a food additive ingredient.[11]
It has been tested (2016) in vitro against the food-borne pathogen Cronobacter sakazakii.[12]




