Jasmone is a natural 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...

 extracted from the volatile portion of the oil from jasmine

Jasmine

Jasminum , commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family . It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...

 flowers. It is a colorless to pale yellow liquid that has the odor of jasmine. Jasmone can exist in two isomer

Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulas. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties, unless they also have the same functional groups. There are many different classes of isomers, like stereoisomers, enantiomers, geometrical...

ic forms with differing geometry around the pentenyl double bond, cis-jasmone and trans-jasmone. The natural extract contains only the cis form, while synthetic material is often a mixture containing both forms, with the cis form predominating. Both forms have similar odors and chemical properties.

Jasmone is produced within plants by the metabolism of jasmonate

Jasmonate

Jasmonate and its derivatives are lipid-based hormone signals that regulate a wide range of processes in plants, ranging from growth and photosynthesis to reproductive development. In particular, JAs are critical for plant defense against herbivory and plant responses to poor environmental...

, from linolenic acid by the octadecanoid pathway

Octadecanoid pathway

The octadecanoid pathway is a reasonably well-characterized biosynthetic pathway for the production of the phytohormone jasmonic acid , an important hormone for induction of defense genes. JA is synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid, which can be released from the plasma membrane by certain lipase...

. It can act as either an attractant or a repellent for various insects. Commercially jasmone is used primarily in perfumes and cosmetics.