Borneol


 * Borneol (C 10 H 18 O)**



A bicyclic organic compound and a terpene. The hydroxyl group in this compound is placed in an endo position. Borneol is easily oxidized to the ketone yielding camphor. One historical name for borneol is **Borneo camphor** which explains the name. Borneol can be synthesized by reduction of camphor by the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley Reduction. The same reduction but then fast and irreversible with sodium borohydride gives isoborneol as the kinetically controlled reaction product. There is also an isomer of Borneol which is called isoborneol (second picture).

Borneol exists as two enantiomers which have two different CAS numbers. Naturally occurring d-(+)-borneol is optically active. It can be found in several species of // Artemisia  //, //  Dipterocarpaceae  // , //  Blumea balsamifera  // and //  Kaempferia galanga  //. Borneol is used in traditional Chinese medicine as moxa. An early description is found in the Bencao Gangmu. Borneol is a component of many essential oils, and it is a natural insect repellent.

Borneol is one of the terpene alcohols, found most abundantly in rosemary oil, has many of the properties of other terpene alcohols. It is used as a skin tonic, a local anaesthetic, sedative and antispasmodic.



Abstract
The enantiomeric differentiation of borneol isolated from laboratory-produced and commercial essential oils was determined using a fused-silica Cyclodex-B capillary column. High enantiomeric purities of (−)-borneol were detected in the oils of // Coridothymus capitatus, Artemisia herba alba, Origanum vulgare, Ocimum canum // and feverfew. High enantiomeric purities of (+)-borneol were detected in lavandin essence and in lavandin oil. The different enantiomeric distributions of (+)-borneol in lavender and in lavandin may aid in distinguishing between the two oils or essences. The wide variation of borneol enantiomers among rosemary oil cultivars indicates genetic variability in the genus// Rosmarinus. // There is no characteristic distribution of the enantiomers of borneol and its biosynthetic oxidation product, camphor, in // Salvia officinalis // oils.