— 66 — 



It will be remembered that a few years ago 1 ) we reported 

 repeatedly on dextrorotatory linaloe oils which, as regard their other 

 characteristics, behaved like normal oils. The constants then observed 

 lay within the following limits: d^o 0,8783 to 0,8816, a D -|- 2° 54' 

 to -f- 8°, n r>20° 1,46149 to 1,46209, acid no. 1,2 to 1,7, ester no. 

 3,74 to 20,0, soluble in 1,6 to 2,0 vols, and more of 70 per cent, 

 alcohol. Similar oils were afterwards observed by Parry and Ben- 

 nett 2 ) and by Simmons 3 ). Closer examination of one specimen has 

 shown to us that as regards their chemical composition these oils 

 differ from the laevorotatory oils which had been found in commerce 

 up to that time, only by their content of d-linalool and 1-terpineol 

 (m. p. 35 ); for the rest, like the others, they contained geraniol and 

 nerol. From a communication which has appeared in the Berichte 

 ofRoure-BertrandFils 4 ) it now appears though as if the question 

 of the origin of these dextrorotatory linaloe oils has been solved, 

 inasmuch as the examination of an authentic oil distilled from the 

 seed of the linaloe tree produced a result identical with that of our 

 examinations referred to above. This oil from seed contained besides 

 1-linalool, 1-terpineol, nerol and geraniol, and possessed the following 

 constants: d^o 0,8858, a r>26° -f~ *° 3°' > n r>i8° M655, soluble in 

 1,5 vol. and more of 70 per cent, alcohol, acid. no. 3,4, sap. no. 34,3 

 (corresponding to 10,8 °/ C 10 H 17 OCOCH 3 ). From these results the 

 authors consider themselves warranted in assuming that the seed of 

 the linaloe-tree yields a dextrorotatory oil , and that the oils referred 

 to above must therefore be regarded as linaloe seed oils. The future 

 will show whether this assumption is correct. We will only, on this 

 occasion, observe in parentheses that in the year 1899 we received 

 from Venezuela an oil said to be prepared from linaloe -seed 

 which possessed the following constants: d^o 0,893, «i> — 2°26 / , 

 sap. no. 86,2, soluble in 2,5 vols, of 70 per cent, alcohol, producing 

 a slight opalescence with more than 5 vols. We are, however, not 

 in a position to make an authentic statement as to the origin of 

 this oil. 



When working-up a considerable parcel of linaloe oil, we obtained, 

 after saponification of the oil with alcoholic potash and subsequent 

 distillation by water vapour, an alcoholic first running, from which 

 after addition of water, we were able to separate an exceptionally 

 light, faintly optically active oil (di 5 o 0,7727; « D -(- i° 46'). It com- 

 menced to boil at 42 ° in a moderate vacuum (18 mm. press.) and 



*) Report October 1904, 56; October 1905, 47. 



2 ) Chemist and Druggist 68 (1906), 544; Report October 1906, 47- 



3 ) Chemist and Druggist 68 (1906), 584; Report October 1906, 47- 



4 ) Berichte of Roure-Bertrand Fils, October 1908, 18. 



