Terpenoid chemistry. VIII. The structure of δ-elemene

Abstract

The sesquiterpene δ-elemene, isolated from Dysoxylon frazeranum wood oil and from a gurjun balsam from Chittagong, Pakistan, is shown by spectral and degradative studies to be (±)-3-isopropenyl-1-isopropyl-4-methyl-4-vinylcyclohexene and to share with the closely related terpenoid geijerene the peculiarity of complete optical inactivity despite the presence of two asymmetric centres.