NEW PHILIPPINE ESSENTIAL OILS. 337 



THE CRYSTALLINE SUBSTANCE CONTAINED IN YELLOW CHAMPACA FLOWERS. 



Since comparatively large amounts of a ciystalline substance is con- 

 tained in champaca flowers, it was thought advisable to investigate the 

 nature of this substance. 



If the substance is sufficiently purified by repeated crystallization from 

 chloroform and ligi'oin, it finally is obtained as colorless crystals entirely 

 without odor. By recr}'stallizing the substance in the cold, no trouble 

 was experienced and the amorphous product encountered by Bacon * 

 was not obtained during the process of purification. According to Bacon, 

 the empirical formula of the compound is C^eHgoOg. 



The substance is lasvorotatory. A specimen weighing 1.0 gram, dis- 

 solved in 15 cubic centimeters of chloroform, gave a rotation, in a 

 10-centimeter tube, of —5.5°. 



As described by Bacon,'^ the substance "shows a tendency to soften at 

 165°, and melts with decomposition at 338°." I have found that even 

 after the most careful purification the behavior of the body in this 

 respect is always the same. If two compounds which possess melting 

 points so far apart are present in a mixture, it, should be possible to 

 separate them by crystallization from the proper solvents. Eepeated 

 crystallization from various solvent mixtures failed to indicate any such 

 separation. The crystals always melted at from 165° to 166° but never 

 gave a clear liquid. Further heating caused the substance to char at 

 about 335° to 340°. 



Under the microscope the crystals are all identical in character. Those depo- 

 sited by the spontaneous evaporation of an alcoholic solution were symmetrical, 

 diamond-shaped plates possessing two extinctions parallel to the two axes of 

 symmetry. Therefore, they are probably monoclinic. The acute angles of the 

 plates are 64°. A chloroform solution sometimes yields six-sided plates, while 

 the crystals precipitated from chloroform by ligroin are like those grown in 

 alcohol. 



The following experiments make it very probable that the substance 

 is homogeneous: 



A single large crystal, formed by the spontaneous evaporation of an alcoholic 

 solution, was pulverized and its melting point determined. It melted at from 

 165° to 166° to a lumpy, sticky mass after the usual manner. Further heating 

 caused decomposition at about 340°. 



Believing that this behavior on melting was due to the polymerization 

 of the pure substance by heat, the following experiment was under- 

 taken : 



About 0.3 gram of the substance completely soluble in chloroform, was 

 heated in a test tube immersed in an oil bath, at 170°, until it softened. Part 



^This Journal, Sec. A (1910), 5, 264. 

 ' Loc. cit. 



