Turpentine

Turpentine

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

Turpentine is composed of terpenes, primarily the monoterpenes α-pinene and β-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.


Turpentine

Substitutes include white spirit or other petroleum distillates, although the constituent chemicals are very different.

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