Sassafrass oil

A Specific example of an important uncultivated plant which yields a volatile oil of considerable value is the sassafras tree. Sassafras oil was one of the first volatile oils distilled in America. The range of the tree is from Florida, where it was originally discovered, to Virginia and Pennsylvania, and even as far north as New York and the New England States. It is quite abundant in the South-Central States, especially Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The production of this oil attained commercial significance early in the last century, and it is distilled extensively at present in Kentucky, Tennessee. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia also to a less extent in Ohio, Indiana, and New York. 

---

But, safrole is the major component of the essential oil of sassafras which is still quite legal to obtain. Sassafras oil has a strong licorice smell which is imparted to it from the safroie molecule. Commercially, there are two kinds of sassafras... 

As of the year 1998, small quantities of sassafras oil are still being sold on retail shelves without any scrutiny. Usually in 1-4oz sizes. Anything larger is usually sold only through distributors and manufacturers. And as of 1998, the DEA has informed most of these distributors that they (the DEA) want lists kept or sales reported of most, if not all, sassafras oil purchases. Mind you it is not illegal to buy the oil. It s just that you will be put on a list if you do. The operative term here is Watched Substance . Solution have someone else buy it for you. 

Strike has also been poking around the DEA and is getting the distinct impression that they will very soon reschedule sassafras oil as schedule I. Then one won t be able to get it at all without a permit or some serious deception. 

Suffice to say that anything that remotely smells like sassafras oil or licorice or any of those strong rustic spices is going to have some amphetamine precursor, maybe not safrole exactly, but definitely something. There is just no other substitute in nature for the aroma these unique compounds give. 

The sassafras oil that one gets these days is not only going to have the safrole but is usually going to have some amount of each of the compounds seen in Table 1 [6]. 

Strike wrote the above paragraph relying on the few accounts of sassafras oil content that Strike had at the time. Since then. Strike has come across more substantial data showing that Brazilian sassafras has NO eugenol in it. This agrees with the claims of many bees who have stated that no appreciable recovery of... 

It will be a little tricky but one can also try to purify by freezing I The sassafras oil is thrown into the freezer to chill. Safrole itself freezes at -14°C so anything that starts to freeze prior to that can be cold filtered in a prechilled vacuum filtration setup. The filtrate goes back in the freezer until -14°C is reached and the mother lode of safrole freezes up. This again is filtered cold but this time the frozen mass of safrole crystals are washed with some ice cold methanol or ethanol (preferably at -14°C) to wash away the unfrozen high-boiling constituents. 

If one is absolutely serious about ultra pure safrole then it can be separated from the eugenol-free sassafras oil by treatment with mercuric acetate [1,2,3,4] which likes that terminal double bond that only safrole has. The Hg(AcO)2 latches on to safrole at that double bond bringing it into solution as a solid sort of like the way that eugenol was. The safrole can then be separated from its still oily buddies by vacuum filtration. Safrole is then regenerated to its normal oily form by treatment with hydrochloric acid (HCI) which flicks the Hg(AcO)2 off the safrole and the safrole double bond reforms. As it so happens, the mercuric acetate also reforms intact so that it can be reused again such as in one of those... 

According to the Merck, and "Essential Oils" by Guenther, Sassafras Oil is composed of the following ... 

I have derived a process for preferentially separating the Safrole out of Sassafras Oil. This process is based on the physical properties of the various components listed above combined with a little chemistry knowledge. The normal means of purifying Sassa-... 

First wash with a volume of Glacial Acetic Acid equal to the amount of Sassafras Oil being processed. This will remove Euge-nol, Pinene and Camphor from the oil. 

Added 112 grams sassafras oil. Shake for a couple of minutes. You get an orangish emulsion. Clears within 15 minutes forming two layers, bottom layer oil, top layer acetic acid, eugenol + the other solubles. Separated the oil from the others, washed the oil layer 2x with fresh C//-/2O. Weight after acetic acid water washes 101.5 (-10.5 grams). 

To isomerize safrole to isosafrole one would like to have pure safrole to start with. This, usually, is not the case. Quasi-pure safrole from sassafras oil is ok. Straight-up sassafras oil is probably ok too, though not recommended. The safrole is then refluxed (boiled under a condenser) in a saturated KOHyethanoI solution for about a day and that s it. The temperature of reflux is about 120-140°C owing to the fact that the ethanol (usually boiling around 65-70°C) is saturated with the halide salt. 

A much more forgiving yet limited extraction method can be used to isolate phenol species such as eugenol and chavicol. You see farther back in this chapter where one can use dilute NaOH to remove eugenol from sassafras oil Well, why not use it to isolate the damn things for further research. It works like a charm ... 

From the information provided by the Russian authorities, the case involved 3,4-MDP-2-P that was being manufactured from safrole in the form of sassafras oil that had been smuggled into the Russian Federation from Viet Nam via China. Unfortunately, all markings had been removed from the actual containers and no supporting documentation was found, so further backtracking investigations were not undertaken. 

The Board welcomes the fact that, in accordance with the standard operating procedures of Project Prism, the competent authorities of China are now sending pre-export notifications for safrole in the form of sassafras oil. In 2004, those notifications resulted in the suspension of a shipment of over 1.5 tons of sassafras oil to Canada, which was subsequently released upon completion of the legal requirements. 

Brown camphor oil is a fraction with a boiling point higher than that of camphor (ca. 20%). It is a pale yellow to brown liquid with the characteristic odor of sassafras oil. 

The oil contains more than 80% safrole and, like Brasilian sassafras oil is therefore used as a raw material for the production of heliotropin (piperonal, see p. 137) via isosafrole. 

Camphor oils with a high safrole content can also be obtained by steam distillation from other Cinnamomum species (see sassafras oils). 

Sassafras oil is used as a generic term for commercial essential oils containing high quantities of safrole. They originate from different botanical species. The main use of these oils is the isolation of safrole as the starting material for the production of heliotropin (see p. 136)... 

Brazilian sassafras oil is obtained by steam distillation of the roots, trunks, and branches of Ocotea pretiosa (Nees) Mez. (Lauraceae) a tree growing wild in South America (Brazil). The oil was formerly called Ocotea cymbarum oil due to incorrect botanical naming. It is a yellow to brownish liquid with the characteristic odor of safrole. 

Chinese sassafras oils are oils or fractions of oils, rich in safrole, that are obtained from different species of the camphor tree (see Camphor Oils) [772]. 

Safrole, which is both toxic and carcinogenic, occurs in sassafras oil up to 90%. There are two commercially important sassafras oils the Brazilian oil is obtained from the trunk wood of Ocotea pretiosa and the Chinese oil is obtained from Cinnamomum camphora by steam distillation of wood chips. Safrole from... 

---