Precious Woods

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine, With a cargo of ivory, 

The odours of sandalwood and cedarwood and their resistance to attack by fungi and insects have made them prized articles of commerce for both construction and decorative purposes for thousands of years. Similarly the oils derived from the woods have a long history of use in perfumery. 

The same rules of carbocation chemistry apply to sesquiterpenoids as to monoterpenoids. The fact that the molecules are bigger means that the reactions can be harder to see and that there may be more possible pathways for a reaction. 

When synthesising a natural product, it is important to ensure that the synthesis produces the correct isomer. 

The course of carbocation reactions is affected by the reaction conditions and changes to conditions can produce surprising results. 

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Vetiver oil is produced by steam distillation of the roots of the grass Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash (Poaceae), which grows wild or is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical countries. The oil is a brown to reddish-brown, viscous liquid with a characteristic precious-wood and rootlike, long-lasting odor. The specifications given in Table 8 refer to oil qualities produced in Reunion,Haiti, Indonesia (Java), and China. 

Vetiver oil is used in fine fragrances for long-lasting precious-wood notes. It is also used as starting material for vetiveryl acetate (see p.74). FCT 1974 (12) p. 1013 [8016-94-4], [84238-29-9]. 

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