Camphor

Description

An aromatic crystalline compound with a sweet smell. Camphor is obtained from the steam distillation of the leaves and wood of the camphor laurel tree, Cinnamomum camphora, native to southeast Asia. It forms a white waxy solid when purified by steam distillation and sublimation. Since the 1930s camphor has also been made synthetically. In museums, camphor has been used as an insect repellent and pesticide, as well as a vapor phase corrosion inhibitor for metals. It was also used in Celluloid as a plasticizer for cellulose nitrate. Camphor sublimes slowly as room temperature; once vaporized it can react with and soften many plastics.

Chemical structure

Synonyms and Related Terms

gum camphor; camphre (Fr.); 2-camphanone; 2-bornanone; Japan camphor; Formosa camphor; laurel camphor; synthetic camphor; Campher (Deut.); Kampfer(Deut.); camphre (Fr.); kamfer (Ned., Sven.); kamfora (Pol.); (Port.);

Risks

• Combustible. Flash point = 64C
• Contact may cause irritation or burns.
• Ingestion can cause nausea, vomiting, vertigo, convulsions and death.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Rhombohedral crystals that are white or colorless.
• Sublimes at room temperature.
• Soluble in ethanol, ether, chloroform, aniline, nitrobenzene, carbon disulfide, decalin, ligroin.
• Slightly soluble in water (0.12 g in 100 ml).
• Composition = C₁₀H₁₆O (mol.wt. = 152.23 g/m)
• CAS = 76-22-2
• Melting Point = 179.75 C
• Boiling Point = 204 C
• Density = 0.992 g/ml

Resources and Citations

• MuseumPests.net: Pesticide Database
• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
• MSDS Sheet Comment: Fisher Scientific 8/02/02: mp = 175-177 C, flash point = 64C
• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983
• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "camphor" [Accessed May 6, 2002].
• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 134
• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
• Lynda A. Zycherman, J.Richard Schrock, A Guide to Museum Pest Control, FAIC and Association of Systematics Collections, Washington DC, 1988
• Pam Hatchfield, Pollutants in the Museum Environment, Archetype Press, London, 2002
• John S. Mills, Raymond White, The Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects, Butterworth Heineman, London, 2nd ed., 1994
• Susan E. Schur, Conservation Terminology: A review of Past & Current Nomenclature of Materials, Technology and Conservation, Spring (p.34-39); Summer (p.35-38); Fall (p.25-36), 1985
• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
• Wikipedia: Camphor Accessed Oct. 2026