Yttrium2 - 29-5-2021 at 19:36
cinnamomum camphora, it grows here in California.
I am wondering how I could extract Camphor and Safrole from the tree.
Is it even possible to get Safrole from the trees here in California?
What about hoja santa, how big of a steam distillation unit would I need to get an experimentable amount of essential oil?
[Edited on 5/30/2021 by Yttrium2]
Yttrium2 - 29-5-2021 at 19:41
If I grew hoja santa under a few 600watt hps lights, would I have enough to produce enough oil for an experiment?
[Edited on 5/30/2021 by Yttrium2]
Aloesci - 29-5-2021 at 23:32
Are you looking to extract camphor from the wood?
Wikipedia has this to offer:
"Primitive stills were set up in the mountainous areas in which the tree is usually found. The wood was chipped; these chips were steamed in a retort,
allowing the camphor to crystallize on the inside of a crystallization box after the vapour had passed through a cooling chamber."
Im not sure how the described crystallization took place but it might be fun to steam distill some wood until the distillate runs clear, and see what
happens to the oil which comes over. You could then perhaps try a solvent extraction if its still liquid, or a recrystalisation if you get solid
crystals and then test the mp of your product.
As for scale, Quick online search and i found:
Wood 0.61% of Crude Camphor
Twigs 1.05% of Crude Camphor
Green Leaves 2.37% of Crude Camphor;
Dried Leaves 2.52% of Crude Camphor
Dead Leaves 1.39% of Crude Camphor
So it really depends how much you want to process at a time
.
If you were going to get some new glassware i would get some standard ground glass joint stuff like a two neck round bottom and a pressure equalizing
addition funnel to add water to the still, instead of an overpriced 'steam distillation set' online. Costs an arm and a leg and you cant easily use it
for other chemistry when you are done with it.
zed - 2-6-2021 at 07:47
Hnuh? Older trees (which apparently have superior Camphor content) are chipped and the wood is subjected to steam distillation. After the camphor
has crystalized out of the distillate, the residual oil has a high Safrole content. This can be isolated by vacuum distillation.
The percentage of Camphor and Safrole in the wood is not especially high, but it doesn't have to be. Since many tons of wood can be present in a
tree, a single tree yields a considerable amount of product. Freshly chipped wood should be used, as the Safrole in particular, is pretty volitile.
It may evaporate away over time.
Once upon a time, our friend Halfapint offered an interesting little report on the subject.
I'll look for it online.... OK, I'm back. No soap! The info. might be somewhere in "The Hive" archives.
I did however, find a nice photo of a very large Camphor tree:
https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/photos/62128/
Get yourself a large pressure cooker at the local "Goodwill". $10? $20? Bore a hole in the top, and attach some plumbing stuff. Build a simple
still, suitable for steam distillation.
Most laboratory glassware is just too small for the task at hand.
[Edited on 2-6-2021 by zed]
[Edited on 2-6-2021 by zed]
karlos³ - 2-6-2021 at 13:54
@zed; you might enjoy reading this: https://www.thevespiary.org/talk/index.php?topic=15046.0
You need to register to access it though.
But except the pics, its a great documentation of exactly that task, in plain glassware, by the way.
zed - 17-6-2021 at 20:09
Who Eats Parsnips?
https://www.designer-drug.com/pte/12.162.180.114/dcd/chemist...
Ah! I sumbled across a paper copy, posted by our departed friend Halfapint. Lots of interesting natural products information.
Your Camphor Trees are included.
draculic acid69 - 20-6-2021 at 03:24
I've had a lot of camphor timber around in the past and one time when a lot of fresh timber was delivered I noticed over the usual camphor smell was a
very distinct Candy Shop smell. Apparently there are two varieties of the camphor one being high in safrole and similar compounds and a lower %of
safrole variety.im guessing on this occasion it was the high safrole variety
zed - 20-6-2021 at 23:41
Safrole has a considerable vapor pressure. I had some very fragrant Sassafras Bark on hand a while back.
Though it was sealed in a plastic sandwich bag, over the course of a year or so, it lost almost all of its "mojo".
I would expect Camphor Wood to lose a considerable percentage of its Safrole Content over time.
Fresh wood should be better.