PINENE

either of two colourless liquid hydrocarbons, a-pinene and b-pinene, occurring as major components of the essential oil of pine trees and used as a chemical raw material. Both compounds belong to the isoprenoid series and have the molecular formula C10H16. They often occur together and are separated by fractional distillation. The principal source of a-pinene is turpentine obtained in the sulfate process for making paper. The commercial product is 9095 percent pure. Large amounts of a-pinene are converted to synthetic pine oil or to camphene, which is chlorinated to toxaphene, an insecticide, or treated with acetic acid to form isobornyl acetate, a perfume with a pine-needle aroma and an intermediate in synthetic camphor manufacture.