Nerol is a monoterpene

Terpene

Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium. They are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective...

 found in many essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...

s such as lemongrass and hops

Hops

Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...

. It was originally isolated from neroli oil, hence its name. This colourless liquid is used in perfumery. Like geraniol, nerol has a sweet rose odor but it is considered to be fresher.

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 with nerol is geraniol

Geraniol

Geraniol is a monoterpenoid and an alcohol. It is the primary part of rose oil, palmarosa oil, and citronella oil . It also occurs in small quantities in geranium, lemon, and many other essential oils. It appears as a clear to pale-yellow oil that is insoluble in water, but soluble in most common...

, wherein the double bond is trans. Nerol readily loses water to form dipentene. Nerol can be synthesized by pyrolysis of beta-pinene

Beta-Pinene

beta-Pinene is a colorless liquid, soluble in alcohol, but not water. It has a woody-green pine-like smell. It occurs naturally in rosemary, parsley, dill, basil, yarrow, and rose. It is also a major constituent of hop aroma and flavor....

, which affords myrcene. Hydrochlorination of myrcene gives a series of isomeric chlorides, one of which converts to neryl acetate.