Rapid identification of some coumarin derivatives in deterpenated citrus peel oil by gas chromatography.

Generally on the gas chromatogram of a volatile essential oil, terpenes, oxygenated compounds and sesquiterpenes appear. With temperature programming, it was shown that some non-volatiles are present with the volatiles. They are simple coumarin (2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) derivatives such as citropten (5,7-dimethoxycoumarin) and furocoumarins (psoralen, 7H-furo[3,2-g][1]benzopyran-7-one) such as bergapten (5-methoxypsoralen), some of which are phototoxic. Terpeneless oils are used in perfumes and cosmetics, so it is important to be able to establish rapidly if they contain phototoxic compounds.