Nepetalactol is an iridoid. It is produced from 8-oxogeranial by the enzyme iridoid synthase.[1] Nepetalactol is a substrate for the enzyme iridoid oxidase (IO) which produces 7-deoxyloganetic acid. It has been identified in Actinidia polygama (the silver vine) as a major cat attractant, and a mosquito repellent. The fact that mosquitos bite cats with nepetalactol on their fur less often may explain why cats are attracted to silver vine in the first place.[2]
^Geu-Flores, Fernando; Sherden, Nathaniel H.; Courdavault, Vincent; Burlat, Vincent; Glenn, Weslee S.; Wu, Cen; Nims, Ezekiel; Cui, Yuehua; o’Connor, Sarah E. (2012). "An alternative route to cyclic terpenes by reductive cyclization in iridoid biosynthesis". Nature. 492 (7427): 138–42. Bibcode:2012Natur.492..138G. doi:10.1038/nature11692. PMID23172143. S2CID4431685.