Chemistry of Essential Oils

290 THE CHEMISTKY OF ESSENTIAL OILS

cineol was again confirmed by Wallach and Brass,^1 who also obtained

a terpene from the oil, which is probably dipentene. Schindelmeiser

2

has identified *-a-pinene, terpinene, and Z-a-terpineol, and Schimmel & Co.

have found a terpilenol present. A sesquiterpene of specific gravity 0*917

is present in the higher boiling fractions.

Artemisia annua yields an oil which has been examined by Imada and

also by Asahina and Yoshitomi.^3 The oil had the following characters:—

16°

Specific gravity at _^

4

Optical rotation

Acid value

Ester „ ...

,, „ (after acetylation)

0-908

- 16-19°

1'8

34-6

63'5

14°

A ketone, C 10 H 16 O, boiling at 182° and of specific gravity at—-^ of 0-8906
was isolated from the oil, and also laevo-camphor. Eucalyptol is also
present. The new ketone, above mentioned, is optically inactive, and
yields a semi-carbazone melting at 95° to 96°. It has been provisionally
named " artemisia ketone ".
Artemisia Barrelieri yields an essential oil of specific gravity about
•920 which contains thujone. Artemisia glacialis, the " mountain worm-
wood," known commercially as " Genepi des Alpes," yields under •£ per
cent, of an oil of specific gravity '964 to %970, which solidifies to a buttery
consistency at 0°. It has been suggested as a suitable ingredient for
making liqueurs to imitate the famous Benedictine and Chartreuse.
Artemisia herba alba, var. genuina, a plant of Algerian origin, yields
an essential oil known by the Arabs as Oil of Scheih or Chih. This oil
has been examined by Grimal,^4 by Jeancard and Satie,^5 and by
Bertrand-Fils.
6
The oil from the variety densiflora has also been ex-
amined by Schimmel & Co.
7
The former oil contains Z-camphene,
•cineol and Z-camphor.
Artemisia campestris, var. odoratissima, is also an Algerian plant,
yielding the so-called Oil of Gouft. It has been examined by Jeancard
and Satie,^8 and by Bertrand-Fils.^9 The oil contains geraniol, geranyl ace-
tate, Z-a-pinene, and probably nopinene. Its characters are as follows :—

Constants.

Jeancard

and Satie. Bertrand.

Density ......

Optical rotation ....

Acid value .....

Saponification value

Ester value....

S. V. after acetylation.

Total alcohols calculated as C 10 H 18 O

Combined alcohols „ „

Free alcohols „ „

Soluble in 96° per cent, alcohol

D»- 5

5

0-8720

, «io —15° 20'

1-12

14

12-88

42

11-93 per cent.

3-55 „

8-36

| 1/2 vol.

DH 0-8763

ai& _i6° 24'

0-94

30-81

29-87

41-07

11-65 per cent.

8-21

3-44

1/2 vol.

The following are the characters recorded by the various
observers:—
1
Annalen, 225 (1884), 291.
2
s Apottteker Zeit.,^22 (1907), 876.
Jour. Pharm. Soc. Japan (1917), 424, i.

• Bull. Soc. Chim. [3], (1904), 31, 694.
  5Ibid., 478.^6 Bulletin (1920), 4, 1, 18.
  7Bericht, 8 April, (1909), 96; October (1909), 19.
  Bull. Soc. Chim. [3], (1904) 31, 478.^9 Bulletin (1920), 4, 1, 27.