Ethyl maltol is an organic compound

Organic compound

An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...

 that is common flavourant in some confectioneries. It is related to the more common flavorant maltol

Maltol

Maltol is a naturally occurring organic compound that is used primarily as a flavor enhancer. It is found in the bark of larch tree, in pine needles, and in roasted malt . It is a white crystalline powder that is soluble in hot water, chloroform, and other polar solvents...

 by replacement of the methyl group by an ethyl group

Ethyl group

In chemistry, an ethyl group is an alkyl substituent derived from ethane . It has the formula -C2H5 and is very often abbreviated -Et.Ethylation is the formation of a compound by introduction of the ethyl functional group, C2H5....

. It is a white solid with a sweet smell that can be described as caramalized sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

 and cooked fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

.

The conjugate base derived from ethylmaltol, again like maltol, has a high affinity for iron, forming a red coordination complex. In such compounds, the heterocycle is a bidentate ligand.