PRODUCTION  OF  THE  ESSENTIAL  OIL  OF  MUSTARD.  521 
ON  THE  ARTIFICIAL  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  ESSENTIAL  OIL  OF 
MUSTARD. 
By  MM.  Berthelot  and  De  Luca. 
The  authors  refer  to  the  investigations  of  many  chemists  for 
the  last  thirty  years  upon  the  nature  of  essence  of  mustard,  and 
especially  to  the  researches  of  MM.  Dumas  and  Pelouze,  who 
in  1883  analysed  it,  determined  the  density  of  its  vapor  and  its 
principal  properties,  and  discovered  the  finely- crystalline  body 
thiosinnamine,  prepared  by  the  action  of  ammonia  upon  the  oil 
of  mustard ;  and  to  those  of  M.  Wertheim,  who  has  shown  that 
this  essence,  C8  H5  NS2,  may  be  regarded  as  a  compound  of  oil 
of  garlic,  C6H5S,  with  hydrosulphocyanic  acid, — 
C8H5NS2=C6H5  S,  C2NS. 
Upon  the  preceding  data  the  authors  proceed  to  obtain 
essence  of  mustard  without  the  aid  of  any  substance  derived 
from  cruciferous  plants,  by  taking  glycerine  as  a  starting-point. 
In  a  recent  memoir,  they  showed  that  glycerine  treated  with 
iodide  of  phosphorus  furnished  iodized  propylene,  C6  H5 1.  The 
formula  of  essence  of  garlic,  C6  H5  S,  only  differing  from  that 
of  iodized  propylene  in  the  substitution  of  sulphur  for  the  iodine, 
all  that  was  necessary  was  to  effect  this  substitution,  and  then  to 
combine  the  product  with  hydrosulphocyanic  acid,  in  order  to 
produce  oil  of  mustard. 
This  double  reaction  was  effected  at  a  single  operation  by 
treating  iodized  propylene  with  sulphocyanide  of  potassium, — 
C6  H5 I-fC2N  KS2=C8  H5  NS2+KL 
The  reaction  is  completed  in  a  few  hours  at  212°  F.  in  a  close 
vessel ;  essence  of  mustard  and  iodide  of  potassium  are  the  princi- 
pal products  obtained. 
The  liquid  produced  possesses  the  known  properties  of  essence 
of  mustard  ;  it  exerts  the  same  irritating  action  upon  the  eyes 
and  skin,  boils  at  the  same  temperature,  and  when  treated  with 
ammonia  furnishes  thiosinnamine  in  the  same  manner, — 
C8  H5  NS2-f  NH8  =C8  H8  N2  S2. 
The  composition  of  thiosinnamine  thus  prepared  is, — 
Found. 
Calculated. 
c  , 
.    .  40-9 
8 
414 
H  • 
.    .  7-0 
8 
6-9 
N  • 
.    .  23-0 
2 
24-1 
S  . 
.    .  28-0 
2 
27-6 
