Roman Kaiser (born in Kirchberg SG on 15 July 1945) is a Swiss fragrance chemist. Since 1968 he has been working at

Givaudan Givaudan () is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of flavours, fragrances and active cosmetic ingredients. As of 2008, it is the world's largest company in the flavour and fragrance industries. Overview The company's scents and flavours are de ...

, the world's largest company in the flavour and fragrance industry, where he analyzes and reconstitutes natural scents for use in

perfumery Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

using the

headspace technology Headspace technology is a technique developed in the 1980s to elucidate the odor compounds present in the air surrounding various objects. Usually the objects of interest are odoriferous objects such as plants, flowers and foods. Similar technique ...

which he pioneered and which as a new concept made significant impact on the

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

natural products A natural product is a natural Chemical compound, compound or chemical substance, substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural product ...

Career

Following his

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

studies at the

Zurich University of Applied Sciences The Zürich University of Applied Sciences (German: ''Zürcher Fachhochschule'', ZFH) is a governing body composed of four separate universities. It is located in the city of Winterthur, with facilities in Zürich and Wädenswil, is the second la ...

he joined the

research center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Dübendorf Dübendorf is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 30,000 (2021). It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winter ...

near

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

in 1968, and since then has been working as a

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vol ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

in this company. His main research activity centers around the study and the reconstitution of the

scent An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...

s of

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, and the search for as well as the

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...

of new

odorant An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vol ...

s isolated from nature. For this purpose, he has since 1975 applied the

which leaves the

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

and its

flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

intact by analyzing the surrounding

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

with the help of

gas chromatography Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...

. He is considered one of the pioneers of this method, and many of the accords reconstituted by him have found use in internationally renowned

s. In recognition of his many scientific contributions, he received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

in November 1995. His recent work was more focussed on the

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

of the canopy and understory layers of

tropical rainforests Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equator ...

, and on the reconstitution of scents of endangered plant species.

Publications

The results of his research have been documented in over 30 research articles in

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

s, and led to about 25

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s. He has so far also published 2 books, a third book on “Vanishing Flora – Lost Chemistry” is upcoming:R. Kaiser, “Vanishing Flora − Lost chemistry: The Scents of Endangered Plants around the World”, ''Chem. Biodiv.'' 2004, ''1'', 13−27 (sample from upcoming book project). * R. Kaiser, ''The Scent of Orchids – Olfactory and Chemical Investigations'', Elsvier, Amsterdam, 1993, , 260 pages (incl. biographical sketch, English). * R. Kaiser, ''Meaningful Scents around the World. Olfactory, Chemical, Biological and Cultural Considerations'', Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zürich, and WILEY-VCH, Weinheim, 2006, , 304 pages. * R. Kaiser, ''Scent of the Vanishing Flora'', Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zürich, and Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, November 2010, , 400 pages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Roman Swiss chemists Living people 1945 births

Career

Publications

See also

References