W — 49 — 



Oil of Clove Stems. From the highest boiling fractions of oil of 

 clove stems (b. p. 143 to 155° at 9 mm.; « D — 21°; d 20 o 0,966; n D20O 1,5010) 

 F. W. Semmler and E. W. Mayer 1 ) have isolated a sesquiterpene alcohol 

 Ci 5 H 26 0, which they found to possess the following constants: b. p. 138 

 to 148° (8 mm.), d 20O 0,9681, « D — 17°, n D l,5010, mol. refr. found 68,18, calc. 

 for Ci 5 H 2 60/ =: 68,07. judging from these values the body is a bicyclic 

 sesquiterpene alcohol with one double bond. The chloride of the alcohol 

 (b. p. 147 to 155° at 12 mm.; d 20 o 0,990) when treated with alcoholic potash 

 liquor yields a hydrocarbon possessing the following properties: b. p. 123 

 to 126° (10 mm.), d 20 o 0,9273, « D20 o — 23°, n D20 o 1,5024. 



Oil of Convolvulus Scatntnonia. F. B. Power and H. Rogerson 2 ) 

 have obtained from the root of Convolvulus Scammonia, L. (N. O. Convolvul- 

 aceae), by steam-distillation of the alcoholic extract, a trace of a reddish- 

 yellow oil with a powerful odour, in which the presence of furfurol was 

 .determined by the colour-reaction. 



Copaiba Balsam Oil. According to E. Deussen and B. Eger 3 ), the 

 preparation of /?-nitrocaryophyllene 4 ) from copaiba balsam oil is of great 

 importance in the estimation of the last-named product. So far as the 

 material of investigation at present available goes, the limits of value for 

 the yield of nitro-product are from 14 to 16 p. c. for Para- and from 5 to 

 8 p. c. for Maracaibo oil. 



The authors present the results of their investigations with copaiba 

 balsam oils of different origin, as well as with mixtures of copaiba balsam 

 oils with African copaiba balsam oil and with gurjun balsam oil in the 

 form of a table. 



The exact proof of the presence of gurjun balsam oil in copaiba 

 balsam oil is only afforded by the preparation of the gurjunene ketone 

 semicarbazone 5 ). For this purpose 170 g. oil is split up at 10 to 12 mm. 

 press, up to a temperature of about 145° C, into three fractions of 50 g. 

 each, the fraction which boils above 145° C. being disregarded. Each of 

 the three fractions is oxidised with potassium permanganate in acetone 

 solution. Apart from its m. p. (234° from boiling alcohol) the high 

 sp. rotation (+317° in concentrated aqueous chloral hydrate solution) is 

 ^characteristic of the semicarbazone. Another indication of the presence 

 Woi gurjun balsam oil is afforded by Turner's reaction. Deussen and Eger 

 dissolved 1 drop of the material under examination in 3 cc. glacial acetic 

 acid, added 2 drops of a freshly-prepared 1 p. c. sodium nitrite solution and 

 layered the solution carefully over concentrated sulphuric acid. When the 



*) Berl. Berichte 45 (1912) 1392. 



2 ) Journ. chem. Soc. 101 (1912), 398. 

 *) Chem. Ztg. 36 (1912), 561. 



*) See p. 148. 



3 ) Comp. Report April 1910, 146; April 1912, 109 



