Broken Gears
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Distilling Apricot kernel oil to yield benzaldehyde
I was at the local healthshop the other day to buy some herbal tea and I saw a 500 ml bottle of apricot kernel oil. I remember reading about in
somewhere in a chemistry book, so I bought it.
After looking a quick search I found the info I was looking for. I the back of a Uncle Fester book was a samll appendix about essential olis. It said:
"Apricot kernel oil consist almost entirely of banzaldehyde.... It should be distiled out under a vacuum, as it oxidizes easily when distilled at
normal pressure. Its boiling point at 20 torr is 76 °C"
After boiling for awhile I turned up the heat and raised teh vacuum. I ended at 175 °C at 200 torr and still nothing!
What am I doing wrong?
photo deleted
[Edited on 8-11-2008 by Broken Gears]
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stoichiometric_steve
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I assume YOU did nothing wrong, but Fester is either wrong or what you have is the kernel oil minus the cyanogen glycosides (which provide
benzaldehyde).
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Broken Gears
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The bottle of oil says cold pressed cleanse oil with mono/Polyunsaturated fat. The oil have no smell at all.
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Polverone
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The "bitter almond" oil obtained by steam distillation of pressed peach/apricot/bitter almond kernels is largely benzaldehyde. It is also much more
expensive and less commonly available than the cold pressed oil you have. You can't get benzaldehyde from your oil.
PGP Key and corresponding e-mail address
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unionised
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An interesting example of the difference between a fixed oil and an essential oil.
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oldtimer
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Apricot kernel oil is a fixed oil, very similar to almond oil (or high oleic sunflower, if you only look at the fatty acid pattern and disregard
sterols).
The typical fatty acid composition is 3-10% C16:0, l.t 2% C16:1, .5-4% C18:0, 55-70% C18:1, 22-35% C18:2, l.t.1% C18:3, traces of others. Cold pressed
it is of yellow to dark yellow color, and has a typical, almondlike odor. Refined oils are colorless to light yellow. Use is mostly in cosmetics.
CAS no. 72869-69-3, EINECS No. 272-046-1
It has nothing to do with "bitter almond oil" etc.
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chemrox
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I read that this oil is a common adulterant in almond oil. I wouldn't trust Fester with anything you didn't verify independantly by the way. The
only oil that is predominantly benzaldehyde is Oil of Bitter Almond, once the favorite massage oil ... sigh...
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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Broken Gears
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Unfortunately Bitter Almond or its oil is illegal to import where I live, because of the toxicity 
Well I guess Im back at reading the thread "toluene --> benzaldehyde" by frogfot. CycloKnight did bring alot of nice info and pic there. Maybe sort
it out and out it in Member Publications? 
[Edited on 27-11-2008 by Broken Gears]
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oldtimer
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chemrox,
that is true. Reason is, it is cheaper...
The most "economic" adulterant for almond oil, btw., is high oleic sunflower.
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