AmiigusiPi5o7,;uJ-}  Synthetic  Camphor.  353 
phor,  but  also  some  oily  matter  which  can  be  separated  from  the 
borneol  and  camphor  by  freezing  and  centrifugalizing.  The  mixture  of 
camphor  and  borneol  having  now  been  obtained  in  a  fairly  pure  con- 
dition is  submitted  to  oxidation  for  the  purpose  of  converting  the 
borneol  into  camphor.  Various  oxidizing  agents  are  described  as 
being  satisfactory,  particularly  potassium  dichromate  with  sulphuric 
acid.  The  series  of  reactions  supposed  to  take  place  are  illustrated 
by  the  following  structural  formulas  : 
CH3  CH3  '  CH3 
|     OOC.HOOC  | 
c  c/  c 
/  ^  /  X  /|\ 
HC         CH  HC         CH2  H2C  CO 
|  ^    -  |  +  (COOH)9  -  |  ^    ^  |  —  H,0  —  2CO  — >  1 
H9C         CH  H2C        CH  H9C    [  CU, 
\  /  \ .  /       Water  and  "  \ !  / 
C  Cx    carbon  monoxid.  C 
|XH  I 
H  C3HT  C3H7 
Oxalic  acid. 
3? 
Turpentine.  Piti}<l  oxalate.  Camphor. 
During  the  heating,  part  of  the  oxalic  acid  is  decomposed  into 
formic  acid,  by  means  of  which  the  carboxyl  group  may  also  be  in- 
troduced into  the  turpentine. 
The  Ampere  Electric  Chemical  Company,  of  Ampere,  N.  J., 
claims  to  have  effected  a  yield  of  38  per  cent,  camphor  based  on 
the  turpentine.  So  far,  however,  synthetic  camphor  produced  by 
this  process  has  not  had  a  material  influence  in  the  camphor  market 
and  the  commercial  value  of  the  patent  is  highly  questioned, 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  German  patent  tor  the  process 
has  recently  been  cancelled.  The  writer  has  in  his  possession  a 
sample  of  camphor  purported  to  have  been  made  by  this  process  in 
1902.  Synthetic  camphor  is  usually  reported  as  being  inactive 
optically,  but  the  above  sample  is  dextro-rotatory,  3-64°  at  25  C. 
It  is  significant  to  note  that  no  camphor  made  by  this  process  ap- 
pears to  be  available  at  present.  The  method  is  probably  of  interest 
at  present  only  historically. 
Another  process  for  making  camphor  was  protected  by  U.  S* 
letters-patent  No.  770,940,  September  27,  1904.  It  is  claimed 
{Ber.  d.  Cheni.  Ges.  33,  3430)  that  when  isoborneol  is  oxidized  by 
means  of  permanganate  in  glacial  acetic  acid,  almost  theoretical 
