rstar - 6-10-2011 at 19:59
Hi Geeks,
How can I reduce Camphor (in ethanol solution) to Isoborneol, using K2S2O5 as my reducing agent ?? . I don't have any access to NaBH4, so I cannot
use that.
simba - 7-10-2011 at 05:21
I think you can make borneol by refluxing camphor in alcohol with amalgamated aluminium. Then you can isomerize it to isoborneol.
Adas - 15-12-2014 at 10:26
You can easily make borneol by melting camphor with ascorbic acid. I've tried that, the ascorbic acid (or the oxidized form thereof) turned into
red-black goo like when you boil certain sugars in NaOH (caramel, basically).
It's fast and easy, and no I have no reference for this reaction, but I believe my nose. At the end of the reaction the camphor smell was minimal, and
a very nice smell of borneol appeared. It is very indistinctive, though.
This is "borneol snow" that I created in the test tube.
Borneol snow