Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Extraction of Menthol from Gum

nighthawk - 5-4-2017 at 10:20

Hey I just wondered if this was possible and how to do it does anyone know??

Booze - 9-4-2017 at 09:39

What kind of gum? Chewing gum, or a kind of gum from wood?

Elemental Phosphorus - 9-4-2017 at 09:55

Well menthol is soluble in ether and chloroform, as well as glacial acetic acid and ethanol, but without further information it will be hard for people to help you. If you are extracting it from a dry material, ethanol may be easier, but if the material you are extracting it from is wet, either dry it first or use an immiscible solvent. You could just buy it for $2.89 for 15 grams here:
https://wizardlabs.us/index.php?route=product/product&pr...
Mint Oil may be extracted from plant matter by steam distillation and the menthol frozen out, and then recrystallized.

Booze - 11-4-2017 at 11:28

Quote: Originally posted by Elemental Phosphorus  
Well menthol is soluble in ether and chloroform, as well as glacial acetic acid and ethanol, but without further information it will be hard for people to help you. If you are extracting it from a dry material, ethanol may be easier, but if the material you are extracting it from is wet, either dry it first or use an immiscible solvent. You could just buy it for $2.89 for 15 grams here:
https://wizardlabs.us/index.php?route=product/product&pr...
Mint Oil may be extracted from plant matter by steam distillation and the menthol frozen out, and then recrystallized.

It would be much cheaper to just buy some methanol. I found this on ebay though:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/p/methanol-99-85-5-litre-5l-biodiesel-...

Are there any things methanol is used for in a house? I got sulfuric acid/NaOH from drain cleaners, but is methanol used in anything I could find in a hardware store?

DraconicAcid - 11-4-2017 at 11:51

Menthol =/= methanol