Isolation of new constituents with a formyl group from the heartwood of Santalum album L.

Abstract

Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is a traditional incense, and its essential oil is used in fragrances. The hexane extract from Indian sandalwood chips had a sandalwood odour similar to sandalwood chips, but it clearly differed from that of commercial essential oil. By fractional distillation of the extract under reduced pressure, a fraction was obtained that had a sandalwood-like odour and contained several unknown formyl compounds as the main constituents. Santalyl formates were isolated as new components from this fraction by chromatography and characterized by 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. These constituents were less abundant in the commercial essential oil than in the hexane extract. Santalyl formates were synthesized from the corresponding alcohols. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.