camphor

a whitish crystalline aromatic terpene ketone obtained from the wood of the camphor tree or made from pinene: used in the manufacture of celluloid and in medicine as a liniment and treatment for colds. Formula: C₁₀H₁₆O

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

camphor

Tall 100 ft (30m) tree with waxy glossy leaves that smell like camphor when crushed. Masses of small white flowers, black berry-like toxic fruit. Very rough bark with vertical fissures. The tree has very strong volatile compounds and is considered toxic, but many people make tea from young leaves and shoots. Gum and bark are used for digestive upset, circulation, pain, nerves, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis, skin conditions. Camphor steam used for colds, sinus infections. It is said inhaling too much affects central nervous system. Sometimes used to make “fake Eucalyptus” oil. Be careful. Keep kids away, and definitely do not take if pregnant. Keeps insects away in closet.

camphor

[′kam·fər]

(organic chemistry)

C₁₀H₁₆O A bicyclic saturated terpene ketone that exists in optically active dextro and levo forms and as a racemate; the dextro form is obtained from the wood and bark of the camphor tree, the levo form is found in some essential oils, and the inactive form is obtained from an Asiatic chrysanthemum or made synthetically from certain terpenes.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Camphor

l, 7, 7-trimethylbicyclo-(l, 2, 2)-heptanone-2, a ketone of the terpene series; colorless crystals with a characteristic odor. Camphor is highly volatile; it is slightly soluble in water but readily soluble in organic solvents. It exists in the form of two optically active isomers, the (+)- and (−)-forms (melting points, 178.5°-179°C), and in the form of a racemic mixture, the (±)-form (melting points, 178°-178.5°C).

Camphor is widespread in nature; it is a component of many essential oils, such as basil oil, oil of wormwood, and oils of coniferous trees and the camphor tree. Camphor-tree oil is a source of (+)-camphor, or so-called natural camphor. Industrial camphor, in the (±)-form, is produced by processing of turpentine or its basic component, pinene. Camphor is used mainly as a plasticizer of cellulose nitrate and acetate (in the production of celluloid and motion-picture film), as an inhibitor (an additive that increases the storage stability) for smokeless powder, and as a moth repellent.

Camphor is a medicinal substance of the group of nerve stimulants. It stimulates respiration and blood circulation and strengthens the metabolic processes in the heart muscle. It is injected subcutaneously in the form of “camphor oil” (camphor solution in peach oil) or taken internally in powders (ground camphor) and in gelatin capsules in cases of cardiac weakness or collapse, to stimulate respiration, and in cases of infectious diseases and cases of narcotic and barbiturate poisoning. Bromo-camphor (in powder or tablet form) and Kamfotal tablets (containing bromocamphor and phenobarbital) are prescribed as sedatives for the central nervous sytem in cases of high nervous excitability, neurasthenia, and heart neurosis. Camphor is used in the form of camphor oil, camphor ointment, camphor spirits, and Denta drops (dental drops containing camphor, chloral hydrate, and alcohol) as irritants and analgesics, and partly as antiseptics. These preparations are applied as salves in cases of inflammations and rheumatism; the dental drops are introduced into tooth defects.

REFERENCES

Rudakov, G. A. Khimiia i tekhnologiia kamfory. Moscow-Leningrad, 1961.