The acetate of terpineol has been found only occasionally in volatile oils: the dextrogyrate ester in cypress oil and the oil of Malabar cardamom, the inactive in oil of cajeput. It possibly, occurs also in Siberian pine needle oil and in the German oil from the needles of Pinus silvestris, and in niaouli oil. However, reliable data are still wanting.

Artificially, terpinyl acetate has been obtained by Bouchardat and Lafont1) by heating a mixture of pinene and acetic acid for 64 hours. According to Bertram2) this reaction is accelerated greatly by the addition of small amounts of an inorganic acid. Likewise from terpineol and acetic acid anhydride a good yield of ester can be obtained by observing the proper conditions.

Terpinyl acetate is a colorless liquid of a relatively faint odor. According to the character of its source it is dextrogyrate, lasvogyrate, or optically inactive. According to Bouchardat and Lafont (loc. cit.J)it boils at 110 to 115° under 10 mm. pressure; and at 220° under ordinary pressure, but with partial decomposition. For a terpinyl acetate obtained by heating 1 vol. of oil of lemon with l1/2 vol. of glacial acetic acid, Lafont3) determined the following properties:

B. p. 140° (40 mm.); d0o 0,9828; [a]D + 52° 30'.

In the laboratory of Schimmel & Co. technical products with a 90 p. c. ester content have been found to possess the following properties:

B. p. 90 to 94° (5 mm.); d15o 0,9544 to 0,961; aD + 0°, nD20o 1,46526 to 1,46585; soluble in about 5 vol. of 70 p. c. alcohol. Terpinyl acetate is rather difficultly saponifiable. Hence a large excess of alkali should be used in quantitative determinations and the mixture should be heated for two hours, for otherwise values will be obtained that are too low.

1) Annal. de Chim. et Phys. VI. 18 (1889), 244.

2) G.I. P. 67255.

3) Annal. de Chim. et Phys. VI. 15 (1888), 153.