Sobrerol is a

mucolytic Mucoactive agents are a class of pharmacologic agents that include expectorants, mucolytics, mucoregulators, and mucokinetics that can affect the volume, viscosity, transportation, and composition of mucus or sputum. They often aid in clearing ...

History

Sobrerol was discovered by

Ascanio Sobrero Ascanio Sobrero (12 October 1812 – 26 May 1888) was an Italian chemist, born in Casale Monferrato. He studied under Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the University of Turin, who had worked with the explosive material guncotton. Education and ca ...

as an oxidation product of

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n ≥ 2. Terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predomi ...

s. Later the oxidation and reduction reactions of chiral

pinene Pinene is a collection of unsaturated bicyclic monoterpenes. Two geometric isomers of pinene are found in nature, α-pinene and β-pinene. Both are chiral. As the name suggests, pinenes are found in pines. Specifically, pinene is the major comp ...

lead also to several possible isomers of

carvone Carvone is a member of a family of chemicals called terpenoids. Carvone is found naturally in many essential oils, but is most abundant in the oils from seeds of caraway (''Carum carvi''), spearmint (''Mentha spicata''), and dill. Uses Food appli ...

(the corresponding cyclohexyl ketone dehydrated at the isopropyl) and sobrerol, making it possible to determine reaction mechanism and the structural properties of pinene and of other terpenes.

References

* * * * {{respiratory-system-drug-stub Expectorants Tertiary alcohols Cyclohexenes Monoterpenes