Abstract
With the aim of correlating pungency with substituent groups on one benzene ring, various analogues of yakuchinones were synthesized by means of the Claisen-Schmidt reaction. Their pungencies were assessed by direct comparison of the threshold concentrations obtained in taste experiments. The presence of a phenolic hydroxyl group was indispensable for high pungency, while that of a 1, 2-double bond of the heptanone part tended to decrease the pungency.