Oil of spearmint

Aldehydes occur naturally in essential oils and contribute to the flavors of fruits and the odors of plants. Benzaldehyde, C6H5CHO (8), contributes to the characteristic aroma of cherries and almonds. Cinnamaldehvde (9) is found in cinnamon, and vanilla extract contains vanillin (10), which is present in oil of vanilla. Ketones can also be fragrant. For example, carvone (Section 18.1) is the essential oil of spearmint. 

The main constituents of spearmint oil are /-carvone (Fig. 13.12.7) and /-limonene (Fig. 13.12.8). Oil of spearmint contains from 45 to 60% l-carvone, 6 to 20% of alcohols, and 4 to 20% of esters and terpenes, mainly /-limonene and cineole (see Fig. 13.12.4)J2J The optically isomeric form of carvone, d-carvone, is found in oil of caraway and oil of dill. Carvone appears to co-occur with limonene when present in a plant. 

The organic compounds available to us today are those present in living things and those formed over millions of years from dead things. In earlier times, the organic compounds known from nature were those in the essential oils that could be distilled from plants and the alkaloids that could be extracted from crushed plants with acid. Menthol is a famous example of a flavouring compound from the essential oil of spearmint and ds-ja.smone an example of a perfume distilled from jasmine flowers. 

A useful synthesis (ref.ll)of patchouli alcohol, an important fragrant constituent of patchouli oil, from (+)-camphor, that onetime important natural product which was employed as a plasticiser for nitrocellulose (itself a semi-synthetic polymer), was complicated by structural revision of the sesquiterpene alcohol. Dihydrocarvone (14) obtained by saturation of the ring double bond in carvone, a major constituent of oil of spearmint has been employed for two very different sesquiterpenes, the ketone campherenone (15) and the alcohol, occidentalol (16). In the first case an enol acetate was converted to a bicyclic intermediate by earlier established methodology and the route emulated a plausible biogenetic sequence giving racemic campherenone (ref.12) as shown. Any chirality in (14) is apparently lost. 

Oil of spearmint - Part 1 Native type (Mentha spicata L.)... 

ISO 3033 2005 Oil of spearmint part 1-4, International Organisation of Standardisation, Geneva, Switzerland (2005)... 

Spearmint Water, Same as last, from oil of spearmint. 

The other class of lipid molecnles, based on a branched five-carbon stmc-ture called isoprene, was first identified via steam distillation of plant materials. The extracts are called essential oils. They are often fragrant, and are used as medicines, spices, and perfumes. A wide variety of structures is obtained by fusing isoprene monomer units, leading to a very diverse set of compounds, including terpenes, such as j8-carotene, pinene (turpentine), and carvone (oil of spearmint) and steroids, such as testosterone, cholesterol, and estrogen. 

Oil of Spearmint. Oil of crispmint oil of curled mint. Volatile oil from the flowering tops of Mentha spicata... 

Spirit of Spearmint. An alcoholic soln contg per liter 100 ml oil of spearmint and the alcohol-soluble principles from 10 g coarsely powdered spearmint leaves previously macerated with water. 

Synonyms cas 8008-79-5 oil of spearmint common spearmint scotch spearmint garden mint green... 

S)-(+)-Carvone produces the typical odor and taste of caraway, whereas its (R)-(-)-enantiomer in the oil of spearmint from Mentha spicata (Labiatae), in contrast, smells like peppermint (p. 18). (-)-Patehoulol (also referred to as patehoulialeohol p. 40) smells intensely woody and earthy with a touch of camphor, similar to the natural oil of Patchouli used in perfumery, while the weak odor of the synthetically produced (+)-enantiomer is quite untypical. 

The ketone carvone is optically isomeric—one isomer (+)-carvone is found in oil of caraway seed, Carum carvi (Apiaceae), whereas the other, (-)-carvone, is the main constituent of oil of spearmint, Mentha spicata (Lamiaceae). 

R)-Carvone, the major component of the oil of spearmint, undergoes acid-catalyzed isomerization to carvacrol, a major component of the oil of thyme. Draw a stepwise mechanism and explain why this isomerization occurs. 

Muscone is used to make musk perfumes, and oil of spearmint contains carvone. 

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