Turpentine
Turpentine distilled at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village as it was done circa 1900 | |
| Identifiers | |
|---|---|
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.029.407 |
| EC Number |
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PubChem CID |
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| UNII | |
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) |
|
| Properties | |
| C10H16 | |
| Molar mass | 136.238 g·mol−1 |
| Appearance | Viscous liquid |
| Odor | Resinous |
| Melting point | −55 °C (−67 °F; 218 K) |
| Boiling point | 154 °C (309 °F; 427 K) |
| 20 mg/L | |
| Hazards | |
| NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | |
| Flash point | 35 °C (95 °F; 308 K) |
| 220 °C (428 °F; 493 K) | |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
Infobox references | |
Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principally used as a specialized solvent, it is also a source of material for organic syntheses.
Turpentine is composed of terpenes, primarily the monoterpenes alpha- and beta-pinene, with lesser amounts of carene, camphene, limonene, and terpinolene. Nowadays, turpentine is rarely the product of distillation of pine resin, but is a byproduct of pulping. Pulping is achieved by two processes, the Kraft process and the sulfite process. The turpentines obtained from these two processes differ in their chemical compositions. The sulfite process gives a product that is rich in cymene, whereas the Kraft process gives a pinene-rich product.
Substitutes include white spirit or other petroleum distillates, although the constituent chemicals are very different.