Spectroscopic characterisation of a rare monoterpene from Blumea Mollis

Beginning with earlier studies on the essential oil separated from different species of Blumea, this material has been the subject of many chemical and biological investigations. Chemical investigations of the oils of different Blumea species have afforded different terpenoids. Thus the oil of Blumea eriantha has a major constituent, d-carvotanacetone; oil of Blumea lacera contains the cineol, d-fenchone and citral; oil of Blumea malcolmii yielded d-carvotanacetone and 1-tetrahydrocarvone; and the oil of Blumea membranceae contains 1,4-(8)-p-methadiene; δ-cadinene; 2,3-dimethoxy-p-cymene; 1,2-dimethyl-3-isopropenyl cyclopent-1-en-4-one; 5-hydroxy-p-cymene-2-oxybornylene; 2-methyl-5-isopropyl cyclopent-1-one carbonylic acid methyl ester; and citronellyl acetate. But this monoterpene has not been reported yet. Among the different species studied, the essential oil of Blumea mollis, DC represents a topic of interest due to the presence of chrysanthenone, a chief constituent for perfume material.

The present work was carried out, therefore, with the aim of separation of compound I in pure form (to prevent photo-oxidation) and its identification by physical and spectral data. Both TLC and GLC techniques were employed for the quantitative detenn ination of percentage.

Experimental

A dark, brownish essential oil (0.034%) was obtained by steam distillation of fresh flowering plants of Blumea mollis DC (composite), widely distributed in the Malwa region near Ujjain in India.

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