326 THE CHEMISTEY OF ESSENTIAL OILS
45 per cent, of other terpenes, and 40 to 50 per cent, of dill-apiol
C 6 H(OCH 3 ) (O 2 CH 2 ) (CH 2. OH : CH 2 ).
Delepine
1
has further identified dipentene, cymene, the methyl
ether of thymol, and an alcohol with a rose-like odour but not yet
identified, as constituents of the oil. mnM » mnH • rbuu
Italian sea fennel oil has been examined by Francesconi and Serna-
giotto,^2 who found the oil to have the following characters:—
Specific gravity.0-9816 at 29°
„ rotation + 3-18°
Refractive index 1-4978
Saponification number 6- 5
„ „ (after acetylation)... 11-24
The principal constituents of the oil were found to be /3-phellandrene,
dill-apiol, and a terpene, which the authors have named crithmene, and
which has the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-8679 at 12°
Refractive index 1-4806
Boiling-point 178° to 180°It yields two nitrosochlorides, melting at 101° to 102° and 103° to 104*
respectively.
Sardinian sea-fennel oil has been found to contain _p-cymene.OIL OF MASTERWORT.Masterwort Oil is distilled from the root of Imperatoria ostruthium,
a plant indigenous to the mountain regions of Southern and Central
Europe. The root yields about 1 per cent, of oil of characteristic
aromatic odour, which, according to Hirzel, contains bodies resembling
terpene alcohols. Wagner states that angelic aldehyde is present.
The oil has the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0876
Optical rotation +66°
Boils at 170° to 190°
Lange^3 has examined an oil distilled from two-year old Tyrolese
plants. The yield was 1 per cent.
The oil had the following characters :—
Specific gravity.0-8627 at 20°
Optical rotation + 59° 30'
Acid value. 0-8
Ester „ 17-9
„ „ (after acetylation) 2. V34
The esters of isobutyric, isovalerianic, isopropylidene-acetic, formic
and acetic acids were present, also free palmitic acid; 95 per cent, of
the oil consisted of terpenes, among which were: dipentene, dextro-
limonene, a-pinene, and dextro-phellandrene. An alcohol C10H20O and
a sesquiterpene yielding a dihydrochloride, melting-point 157° to 1575°,
are also present. Angelic aldehyde, described by Wagner, could not
be found.
1
3 Comptes rendus,^149 (1909),^215 ;^150 (1910), 1061.
a Ait. R. Accad. d. Lincei, Roma (5), 22 (1913), 231, 321, 382.
Year Book of Pharmacy (1912), 100.