turpentine
turpentine, the resinous exudate or extract obtained from coniferous trees, particularly those of the genus Pinus. Turpentines are semifluid substances consisting of resins dissolved in a volatile oil; this mixture is separable by various distillation techniques into a volatile portion called oil (or spirit) of turpentine and a nonvolatile portion called rosin. Although the term turpentine originally referred to the whole oleoresinous exudate, it now commonly refers to its volatile turpentine fraction only, which has various uses in industry and the visual arts.
Oil of turpentine is a colourless, oily, odorous, flammable, water-immiscible liquid with a hot, disagreeable taste. It is a good solvent for sulphur, phosphorus, resins, waxes, oils, and natural rubber. It hardens upon exposure to air. Chemically, oil of turpentine is a mixture of cyclic monoterpene hydrocarbons, the predominant constituent being pinene.
Formerly, the largest use for turpentine oil was as a paint and varnish solvent. Oil painters generally prefer it as a paint thinner and brush cleaner to petroleum solvents (mineral spirits), even though the latter are less expensive. But the largest use of turpentine oil is now in the chemical industry, as a raw material in the synthesis of resins, insecticides, oil additives, and synthetic pine oil and camphor. Turpentine oil is also used as a rubber solvent in the manufacture of plastics.
Turpentine oil is generally produced in countries that have vast tracts of pine trees. The principal European turpentines are derived from the cluster pine (P. pinaster) and the Scotch pine (P. sylvestris), while the main sources of turpentine in the United States are the longleaf pine (P. palustris) and the slash pine (P. caribaea).
Turpentine oil is classified according to the way it is produced. Sulfate turpentine, used widely in the chemicals industry, is obtained as a by-product of the kraft, or sulfate, process of cooking wood pulp in the course of the manufacture of kraft paper. Wood turpentine is obtained by the steam distillation of dead, shredded bits of pine wood, while gum turpentine results from the distillation of the exudate of the living pine tree obtained by tapping. Crude turpentine obtained from the living pine by tapping typically contains 65 percent gum rosin and 18 percent gum turpentine.
Various other oleoresins (solutions of resins dispersed in essential oils) are known as turpentines. Venice turpentine, for example, is a pale green, viscous liquid that is collected from the larch (Larix decidua, or L. europea). It is used for lithographic work and in sealing wax and varnishes. See also balsam; Canada balsam.
Crude turpentine is one of a group of pine-tree derivatives that are known as naval stores.
