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androstenol

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Also known as androst-16-en-3-ol, 3α-androstenol, 5α-androsten-3α-ol, 16,17-Androstene-3-Ol

Androstenol, also known as 5α-androst-16-en-3α-ol (shortened to 3α,5α-androstenol or 3α-androstenol), is a 16-androstene class steroidal pheromone and neurosteroid in humans and other mammals, notably pigs. It possesses a characteristic musk-like odor.

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
steroid
Has part
carbon
Mass
274.23
Show 3 more facts
canonical SMILES
CC12CCC3C(C1CC=C2)CCC4C3(CCC(C4)O)C
chemical formula
C₁₉H₃₀O
isomeric SMILES
C[C@]12CC[C@H]3[C@H]([C@@H]1CC=C2)CC[C@@H]4[C@@]3(CC[C@H](C4)O)C
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Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Biosynthesis
  • Distribution
  • Biological activity
  • See also
  • References

Androstenol, also known as 5α-androst-16-en-3α-ol (shortened to 3α,5α-androstenol or 3α-androstenol), is a 16-androstene class steroidal pheromone and neurosteroid in humans and other mammals, notably pigs. It possesses a characteristic musk-like odor.

Androstenol, or a derivative, is found in black truffles. This was offered as an explanation for how pigs locate them deep in the ground: Androstenol is produced in the saliva of male pigs. However, experiments in France using pigs to scent truffles, truffle scent extract, and purified androstenol showed that pigs responded to the first two (actually trying to eat dirt containing the truffle extract), but ignored the androstenol.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “androstenol” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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