View source for Picamar

'''Picamar''' is a colorless, [[hydrocarbon]] [[oil]] extracted from the [[creosote]] of [[beech]]wood [[tar]] with a peculiar odor and bitter taste. It consists of derivatives of [[pyrogallol]]. It was discovered by German chemist [[Carl Reichenbach]] in the 1830s. Picamar can be used to lubricate machinery.
==Chemical and physical properties==
The exact composition of picamar is unknown.<ref name="Gregory1851">{{cite book|author=William Gregory|title=Outlines of Chemistry: For the Use of Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2pEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA538|year=1851|publisher=H.W. Derby|pages=538}}</ref> According to Pastrovich, picamar is a monomethyl ether of propyl-[[pyrogallol]] ({{chem|[[carbon|C]]|10|[[hydrogen|H]]|14|[[oxygen|O]]|3}}). However, Gustav Niederist, who obtained an original sample of the oil as prepared by von Reichenbach himself, assigned it a formula of {{chem|[[carbon|C]]|13|[[hydrogen|H]]|18|[[oxygen|O]]|4}}.<ref name="Britain)1883">{{cite book|author=Chemical Society (Great Britain)|title=Journal of the Chemical Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7w4AQAAMAAJ|year=1883|publisher=The Society|pages=1005–1006}}</ref><ref name="Britain)1884">{{cite book|author=Society of Chemical Industry (Great Britain)|title=Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PArzAAAAMAAJ|year=1884|publisher=Society of Chemical Industry|page=162}}</ref> Picamar is colorless with a peculiar, peppermint-like odor and bitter taste. It is soluble in alcohol and sparingly soluble in water. It has a [[melting point]] of {{cvt|545|F|C}}. Picamar reduces the red oxide of [[mercury (element)|mercury]] to its metallic state.<ref name="Brande1841">{{cite book|author=William Thomas Brande|title=A Manual of Chemistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eADxV_sWOh8C&pg=PA1169|year=1841|publisher=J.W. Parker|page=1169}}</ref> It reacts with nitric acid to become a reddish-brown, greasy substance and can also dissolve [[camphor]], [[resin]], and benzoic acids.<ref name="Gmelin1862">{{cite book|author=Leopold Gmelin|title=Hand-book of Chemistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FUMAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA163-IA2|year=1862|publisher=Cavendish Society|pages=163}}</ref>
==History==
The name "picamar" is derived from the Latin phrase ''in pice amarum'' (meaning "bitter principle of tar").<ref name="Hoblyn1865">{{cite book|author=Richard Dennis Hoblyn|title=A Dictionary of Terms Used in Medicine and the Collateral Sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4IPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA342|year=1865|publisher=H.C. Lea|page=342}}</ref> It was discovered by German chemist [[Carl Reichenbach]] in the 1830s as one of the six principles of [[Beech tree|beechwood]] tar, along with other substances as [[capnomor]] and [[eupione]] that were "met with less notice".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/library/pdf/S_ACPY.pdf|page=63|title=Letters on Od and Magnetism|year=1851}}</ref>
==Applications==
Picamar is used for greasing machinery and preventing them from rusting.<ref name="Turner1834">{{cite book|author=Edward Turner|title=Elements of Chemistry: Including the Recent Discoveries and Doctrines of the Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3motAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA874|year=1834|publisher=John Taylor|page=874}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Hydrocarbons]]
[[Category:Phenols]]