February's meeting was jointly organised by the SCS and the BSP and our guest was a distinguished biophysicist and irrepressible perfume enthusiast: the famous Luca Turin! Luca fell in love with smells at a very young age, probably an appreciated side effect of his childhood in France and Italy. Later, to study, he headed South, to the French Riviera, which only intensified what had already become an obsession: to be able to decrypt the mysteries of smell.

Out of sheer pleasure, in 1992, he wrote and published "Parfums: le guide", a refreshing review of recent launches that he either praised to the skies, or hurled stones at with the fiercesome confidence of an expert. The industry got intrigued, sometimes enough to let him in their laboratories, as did Quest. Luca was almost coming out of the blue in the Perfumery world yet, he was far from being a neophyte. With a Ph. D. in physiology and biophysics, 10 years of CNRS (a kind of French SERC) and a lectureship at University College London, his career as a scientist was perfect. However, his research work could probably be added to the labours of Hercules. Since no one likes their habits shaken, let alone their beliefs, his theory of smell got him curious believers and persevering enemies. Yet, in front of such pugnacity, the latter had to give in, as since 2001, Luca Turin has been technical director of Flexitral, a new company dedicated to the synthesis of odorant molecules according to his controversial theory.
Organic chemistry was born in the middle of the 19th century and with it, a plethora of perfume molecules. However, smell mechanisms were still unknown and the first theories about them were utter speculations. At the beginning of the 20th century, some scientists, like the famous Linus Pauling, suggested the possibility of a link between the shape of a molecule and its odour. Until recently, it was the only hypothesis considered, mainly due to the absence of other plausible or proven ones. In 1996 Turin showed that a hitherto discredited theory could be revived using new discoveries from solid state physics. Promoted by Dyson (1930) and then by Wright (1970), it favoured the correlation between a molecule's vibrations and its smell. For Luca, it seemed much more worthwhile to probe into this than anything else and he did, with patience, meticulousness and passion. Of course, there are still some unresolved points but nevertheless, his theory is now advanced enough to save a lot of time (and much money too!). This has been quickly spotted by investors that sponsored the creation of Flexitral. Nowadays, thanks to computers, the vibrations of many molecules can be quickly and efficiently calculated and therefore their smells can be predicted as well. This is true rational design for odorant molecules. In 2 years, Flexitral has already a whole range of raw materials to offer. Some are meant to be substitutes for some of the allergens listed by the EU in the 7th Amendment of the Cosmetic Directive. But, do not jump with joy yet, as some are already in the process of becoming "contracted captives", as they will be sold exclusively to one company.

Anyway, there's still a lot of heated controversy in the scientific world surrounding Luca's work. As a perfumer I will not take any side only because I feel that my scientific knowledge is not strong enough to judge. What matters most to me is what I can smell... and from this point of view, Luca gets all my votes! The pace at which he can create new odorant molecules is amazing. Three molecules were shown at the presentation: Tonkene, with its rich coumarin, natural Tonka smell, was gorgeous, Jasphene just a light floral jasmine, hexyl cinnamic aldehyde character and Desamber, a very soft ambery musk. All were really new and exciting. So, so far, so good, Flexitral is delivering the goods and isn't this the main aim of this game? Personally I can only wish that Flexitral continues to discover promising raw materials and sells them to everyone, reformed enemies included, happily ever after!

Note: for more info and update about the theory and its controversy log on http://www.flexitral.com/research.html

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