Thymol

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Thymol

Thymol also known as isopropylmethylphenol, (IPMP) is a monoterpene

Monoterpene

Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear or contain rings....
phenol

Phenols

In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl Functional group attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group....
derivative of cymene

Cymene

Cymene, or p-cymene, is a naturally occurring aromatic organic compound. It is classified as a hydrocarbon related to a terpene. Its structure consists of a benzene ring para-substituted with a methyl group and an isopropyl group....
, C₁₀H₁₄OH, isomeric with carvacrol

Carvacrol

Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3CH3, is a monoterpene phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano and a pizza-like taste....
, found in oil of thyme

Thyme

Liquid-liquid extraction

Liquid-liquid extraction, also known as solvent extraction and partitioning, is a method to separate compounds based on their relative solubility in two different miscible liquids, usually Water and an solvent....
as a white crystalline substance of a pleasant aromatic odor

Odor

An odor or odour is a volatilized chemical compound, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction....
and strong antiseptic

Antiseptic

Antiseptics are antimicrobials that are applied to living biological tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction....
properties. Thymol is only slightly soluble in water, but it is extremely soluble in alcohols and other organic solvents. It is also called "Isopropyl-m-cresol" and "hydroxy cymene

Cymene

Carvacrol

Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3CH3, is a monoterpene phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano and a pizza-like taste....
in the form of a preparation from the thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a well known herb; in common usage the name may refer to* any or all members of the plant genus Thymus ,* common thyme, Thymus vulgaris, and some other species that are used as culinary herbs or for medicinal purposes....
plant (a member of the mint family), because of their ability to conserve mummies.

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Encyclopedia

Thymol also known as isopropylmethylphenol, (IPMP) is a monoterpene

Monoterpene

Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear or contain rings....
phenol

Phenols

Cymene

Carvacrol

Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3CH3, is a monoterpene phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano and a pizza-like taste....
, found in oil of thyme

Thyme

Liquid-liquid extraction

Odor

An odor or odour is a volatilized chemical compound, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction....
and strong antiseptic

Antiseptic

Cymene

History

The Ancient Egyptians used thymol and carvacrol

Carvacrol

Carvacrol, or cymophenol, C6H3CH3, is a monoterpene phenol. It has a characteristic pungent, warm odor of oregano and a pizza-like taste....
in the form of a preparation from the thyme

Thyme

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
and fungi, having made thyme well suited for such purposes.

The crystalline substance thymol was discovered by Caspar Neumann

Caspar Neumann

Caspar Neumann was a Germany professor and clergyman from Wroclaw with a special interest in mortality rates....
in 1719 and synthesized in pure form in the year 1842 by von M. Lallemand characterized through elementary chemical analysis. Using this, he was able to discover the correct ratio

Ratio

A ratio is an expression which compares quantities relative to each other. The most common examples involve two quantities, but in theory any number of quantities can be compared....
of carbon

Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
, hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
, and oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
that make up thymol molecule

Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electric charge neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds....
s. Friedrich Ferdinand Runge

Friedrich Ferdinand Runge

Friedrich Ferdinand Runge was a Germany analytical chemistry.Runge conducted chemical experiments from a young age, serendipity identifying the mydriasis effects of Atropa belladonna extract....
also studied the chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
of this substance. Alain Thozet und M. Perrin first published the crystral structure analysis with the exact determination of the structural atoms.

Uses

Thymol has been found to be useful in controlling varroa mites in bee colonies. A minor use is in bookbinding

Bookbinding

Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It also usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block....
: before rebinding, books with mold damage can be sealed in bags with thymol crystals to kill fungal spore

Spore

In biology, a spore is a reproduction structure that is adapted for biological dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions....
s. Thymol has been used in alcohol solutions and in dusting powders for the treatment of tinea

Tinea

Tinea is a general term used to describe skin mycoses. The term "ringworm" is even less precise, but is usually considered a synonym.It is sometimes equated with dermatophytosis, and it is true that most conditions identified as "tinea" are members of the imperfect fungi that make up the dermatophytes....
(ringworm

Ringworm

Ringworm is a fungal infection of the skin in humans and domestic animals such as sheep and cattle. Fungi are organisms that survive by eating plant or animal material....
) infections. It is also used as a preservative

Preservative

A preservative is a natural or synthetic chemical compound that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc....
in halothane

Halothane

Halothane vapour is an inhalational general anaesthetic. Its IUPAC name is 2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane. It is the only inhalational anaesthetic agent containing a bromine atom; there are several other halogenated anesthesia agents which lack the bromine atom and do contain the fluorine and chlorine atoms present in halothane....
, an anaesthetic, and as an antiseptic in mouthwash.

The Bee Balms (Monarda fistulosa
Monarda fistulosa

Monarda fistulosa is a wild flower native to North America. This plant is often used as honey plant, medicinal plant, and ornamental plant....
and Monarda didyma
Monarda didyma

Monarda didyma is an aromatic herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to eastern North America from Maine west to Ohio and south to northern Georgia ....
) are natural sources of thymol, a primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash

Mouthwash

Mouthwash or mouth rinse is a product used for oral hygiene. Antiseptic and anti-plaque mouth rinse claims to kill the plaque causing Dental caries, gingivitis, and bad breath....
formulas. The Blackfeet

Blackfeet

The Piegan Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans in the United States based in Montana. Many members of the tribe currently live as part of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana, with population centered in Browning, Montana....
Native Americans recognized this plant's strong antiseptic

Antiseptic

Antiseptics are antimicrobials that are applied to living biological tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction....
action, and used poultice

Poultice

A poultice, also called cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth over the skin to treat an aching, inflammation, or painful part of the body....
s of the plant for skin infection

Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
s and minor wound

Wound

In medicine, a wound is a type of injury in which the skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force physical trauma causes a bruise . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin....
s. A tea made from the plant was also used to treat mouth and throat infection

Infection

Caries

Caries is a progressive destruction of any kind of bone structure, including the skull, ribs and other bones, or the tooth. Caries can be caused by osteomyelitis, which is a bacterial disease....
and gingivitis

Gingivitis

Gingivitis around the teeth is a general term for gingival diseases affecting the gingiva . As generally used, the term gingivitis refers to gingival inflammation induced by bacterial biofilms adherent to tooth surfaces....
.

Recent medical research on rats concludes that "Thyme extract had relaxing effects on organs possessing ß₂-receptors (uterus

Uterus

The uterus is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals, including humans. It is within the uterus that the fetus develops during gestation....
and trachea

Trachea

Trachea is a common term for 'Wind Pipe' an airway through which respiratory air passes in organisms. In vertebrates, it is held open by up to 20 C-shaped rings of cartilage....
)."

In a 1994 report released by five top cigarette companies, thymol was listed as one of 599 additives to cigarettes. It is said to be added to improve the flavor of cigarettes, but as mentioned above, it relaxes the trachea.

There is also evidence supporting the belief that thymol when applied two to three times daily, can eliminate certain kinds of fungal infections that affect finger nails and toe nails in humans. Regular application to the affected nail over periods approximating three months has been shown to eliminate the affliction by effectively preventing further progress; by simply cutting the nail as one normally would, all infected material is eventually eliminated.

Biological activity

Thymol has GABA

Gabâ

Gab? or gabaa, for the Cebuano people , is the concept of a non-human and non-divine, imminent Retributive justice. A sort of negative karma, it is generally seen as an evil effect on a person because of their wrongdoings or transgressions....
ergic activity, a mechanism of action

Mechanism of action

In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action refers to the specific biochemical interaction through which a Medication substance produces its pharmacological effect....
similar to other depressants such as secobarbital

Secobarbital

Secobarbital is a barbiturate derivative drug. It possesses anaesthetic, anticonvulsant, sedative and hypnotic properties. In the United Kingdom, it was known as Quinalbarbitone....
, methaqualone

Methaqualone

Methaqualone is a sedative medication that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. It was used in the 1960s and 1970s as an hypnotic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative and muscle relaxant....
and diazepam

Diazepam

Diazepam , first marketed as Valium by Hoffmann-La Roche, is a benzodiazepine derivative drug. It possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, sedative, skeletal muscle relaxant and amnestic properties....
. It bears close similarity to the widely used anaesthetic propofol

Propofol

Propofol is a short-acting intravenous sedative agent used for the induction of general anesthesia for adults and children, maintenance of general anesthesia, and sedation in medical contexts, such as intensive care unit sedation for intubated, mechanically ventilated adults, and in procedures such as colonoscopies and endoscopies....
(2,6-diisopropylphenol). Because it is less potent, thymol could potentially be abused like the more common depressants. Propofol is extremely dangerous because of its very steep dose-response curve and high potency. It is commonly abused among anesthesiologist

Anesthesiologist

An anaesthetist , or anesthesiologist , also "anaesthesiologist," is a physician trained to administer anesthesia and manage the medical care of patients before, during, and after surgery....
s and nurse

Nurse

A nurse is a healthcare professional, who along with other health care professionals, is responsible for the treatment, safety, and recovery of Acute or Chronic ill or injured people, health maintenance of the healthy, and treatment of life-threatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings....
s, many times causing death. Because of thymol's lowered potency and safer dose-response curve, it could feasibly be abused as a legal depressant

Depressant

Depressant is a chemical agent that diminishes the function or activity of a specific part of the body.The term is used in particular with regard to the central nervous system ....
. Because propofol is not scheduled, thymol is neither a controlled substance nor a controlled substance analogue in the US and the UK. Because of its widespread availability in food products, it is unlikely to ever come under control.

Thymol

History

Uses

Biological activity

See also

External links