High-boiling Neutral Constituents from the Wood of Pinus sylvestris L..

Abstract

The neutral high-boiling constituents of fresh wood from Scotch pine and of fungus-infested (resin-rich) wood were extd. from the milled wood with ether, the light petroleum part of the ext. was hydrolyzed, and the neutral fraction was collected. After sepg. a carbonyl fraction, the remaining neutral ext. was vacuum distd. into 5 main fractions: monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpene hydrocarbons, diterpene alcs., and high-boiling constituents. The various fractions were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatog. and argentative thin-layer chromatog. No qual. difference in compn. was found between exts. from fresh and infested wood. The sesquiterpene fraction was small compared with the mono- and diterpene fractions. It could be divided into compds. of the cadalene and of the longifolene types. Neutral diterpenes having the pimarane skeleton were predominant, whereas the resin acids were mainly of the abietane type. Only hydrocarbons with the pimarane skeleton were isolated. It is speculated that the various sesquiterpenes and diterpene aldehydes found in different pine species may have taxonomic significance.