How to make amber.

[Guest c10chevy]

Does anybody out there know how to destroy or remove the hydrocarbons in pinesap?

I am trying to make homemade amber.

I have made copal amber by heating it up, but it is my understanding that it is not true amber because the hydrocarbons are still in the copal. As far as I know no scientist has been able to make true amber in the laboratory. Is that true?

[Guest c10chevy]

Nobody knows anything about amber? YT I was told that you might know.

[YT2095]

I have very limited info regarding this, I know it involves as you stated the removal of the more volatile terpinoids and then polymerisation and oxidation of the non volatile terpinoids.

I would say a good start would be to purify the resin and then either breakdown or evaporate the more volitile terpenes, dissolve a sample in acetone then reflux for a few hours, will asist breakdown.

the molecule you`re after is C10H16O

 

do a search for "succinite" may be of some help to you also, as that`s it`s proper mineral name.

sorry I couldn`t be of more help, Good luck

[gem_freak]

what if you used fractional distilation to seperate the terpenes out of the solution and then with whats left mix with water and let the water evaporate over time (in a cooler enviroment) and see if the solution crystalizes out of the water. <BR><BR>and if it helps the natural process when it occurs is when tree resin polymerizes over 20 million years and as it polymerizes the terpenes disipate this works best in oxygen free areas such under lots of clay and such (like the baltic sea) because if it oxidizes it will be ruined. <BR><BR>Resin - Copal - Amber<BR>and as the copal continues to polymerize and the terpenes continue to disipate the copal will turn into amber<BR><BR>... i hope this helps in some way

Edited July 15, 2011 by gem_freak

[Moontanman]

This is just a tad off topic but during the American revolution hundreds possibly thousands of barrels of pine resin, 5 to 50 gallon wooden barrels, were dumped into the Cape Fear River and now are buried under many feet of sediment in tens of feet of water in what is technically a river but it really a deep peat swamp. Would this resin have had time to turn to amber by now?