= Geraniol
<Geraniol> is an acyclic, ten-carbon primary <alcohol> with <molecular formula> $\mathrm{C_{10}H_{18}O}$. Its carbon skeleton contains two <double bonds> and a terminal <hydroxyl group>. It is chemically distinct from <geranyl diphosphate>, the activated diphosphate ester of that alcohol.<Geraniol in ChEBI>[CHEBI:17447, Definition, Formula, structure and primary-alcohol classification]{ref}
A 2004 study by <Yoko Iijima> and colleagues connected this structure to a plant reaction. They purified <geraniol synthase> activity from leaf glands of sweet basil and showed conversion of <geranyl diphosphate> into <geraniol>. Expression of the identified gene produced an enzyme with similar activity.<Characterization of Geraniol Synthase from the Peltate Glands of Sweet Basil by Yoko Iijima and others>[Abstract, purification and expression]{ref}
The motivating mechanistic experiment used <isotope labelling>. Supplying water containing <oxygen-18> led to oxygen-18-labelled geraniol. That result tracked the origin of the product's oxygen and supported a synthase-type mechanism rather than simple removal of phosphate groups by a phosphatase.<Characterization of Geraniol Synthase from the Peltate Glands of Sweet Basil by Yoko Iijima and others>[Abstract, labelled-water experiment]{ref}
The distinction is experimentally powerful: two proposed routes can yield the same unlabelled product yet predict different atom origins. Measuring how much <geraniol> appears answers a yield question; locating the label addresses a mechanistic question. The isotope observation complements product identification rather than replacing it.
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