Resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin, convertible into polymers. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds; this article focuses on naturally-occurring resins. Plants secrete resins for their protective benefits in response to injury; the resin protects the plant from pathogens. Resins confound a wide range of herbivores and pathogens, while the volatile phenolic compounds may attract benefactors such as parasitoids or predators of the herbivores that attack the plant. Most plant resins are composed of terpenes. Specific components are alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, delta-3 carene, sabinene, the monocyclic terpenes limonene and terpinolene, smaller amounts of the tricyclic sesquiterpenes, longifolene and delta-cadinene; some resins contain a high proportion of resin acids. Rosins on the other hand consist, inter alia, of diterpenes. Notable examples of plant resins include amber, Balm of Gilead, Canada balsam, copal from trees of Protium copal and Hymenaea courbaril, dammar gum from trees of the family Dipterocarpaceae, Dragon's blood from the dragon trees, frankincense from Boswellia sacra, galbanum from Ferula gummosa, gum guaiacum from the lignum vitae trees of the genus Guaiacum, kauri gum from trees of Agathis australis, hashish from Cannabis indica, labdanum from mediterranean species of Cistus, mastic from the mastic tree Pistacia lentiscus, myrrh from shrubs of Commiphora, sandarac resin from Tetraclinis articulata, the national tree of Malta, spinifex resin from Australian grasses, turpentine, distilled from pine resin.
Amber is fossil resin from other tree species. Copal, kauri gum and other resins may be found as subfossil deposits. Subfossil copal can be distinguished from genuine fossil amber because it becomes tacky when a drop of a solvent such as acetone or chloroform is placed on it. African copal and the kauri gum of New Zealand are procured in a semi-fossil condition. Solidified resin from which the volatile terpenes have been removed by distillation is known as rosin. Typical rosin is a transparent or translucent mass, with a vitreous fracture and a faintly yellow or brown colour, non-odorous or having only a slight turpentine odor and taste. Rosin is insoluble in water soluble in alcohol, essential oils and hot fatty oils. Rosin melts under the influence of heat. Rosin burns with a smoky flame. Rosin consists of a complex mixture of different substances including organic acids named the resin acids. Related to the terpenes, resin acid are oxidized terpenes. Resin acids dissolved in alkalis to form resin soaps, from which the purified resin acids are regenerated upon treatment with acids.
Examples of resin acids are abietic acid, C20H30O2, plicatic acid contained in cedar, pimaric acid, C20H30O2, a constituent of galipot resin. Abietic acid can be extracted from rosin by means of hot alcohol. Pimaric acid resembles abietic acid into which it passes when distilled in a vacuum. Rosin is obtained from pines and some other plants conifers. Plant resins are produced as stem secretions, but in some Central and South American species such as Euphorbia dalechampia and Clusia species they are produced as pollination rewards, used by some stingless bee species to construct their nests. Propolis, consisting of resins collected from plants such as poplars and conifers, is used by honey bees to seal gaps in their hives. Shellac and lacquer are examples of insect-derived resins. Asphaltite and Utah resin are petroleum bitumens, not a product secreted by plants, although it was derived from plants. Human use of plant resins has a long history, documented in ancient Greece by Theophrastus, in ancient Rome by Pliny the Elder, in the resins known as frankincense and myrrh, prized in ancient Egypt.
These were prized substances, required as incense in some religious rites. The word resin comes from French resine, from Latin resina "resin", which either derives from or is a cognate of the Greek ῥητίνη rhētinē "resin of the pine", of unknown earlier origin, though non-Indo-European; the word "resin" has been applied in the modern world to nearly any component of a liquid that will set into a hard lacquer or enamel-like finish. An example is nail polish. Certain "casting resins" and synthetic resins have been given the name "resin." Some resins when soft are known as'oleoresins', when containing benzoic acid or cinnamic acid they are called balsams. Oleoresins are occurring mixtures of an oil and a resin. Other resinous products in their natural condition are a mix with gum or mucilaginous substances and known as gum resins. Several natural resins are used as ingredients in perfumes, e.g. balsams of Peru and tolu, elemi and certain turpentines. Other liquid compounds found inside plants or exuded by plants, such as sap, latex, or mucilage, are sometimes confused with resin but are not the same.
Saps, in particular, serve. Plant resins are valued for the production of varnishes and food glazing agents, they are prized as raw materials for the synthesis of other organic compounds and provide constituents of incense and perfume. The oldest known use of plant resin comes from the late Middle Stone Age in Southern Africa where it was used as an adhesive for hafting stone tools
Sesquiterpene
Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations. Biochemical modifications such as oxidation or rearrangement produce the related sesquiterpenoids. Sesquiterpenes are found in plants and insects, as semiochemicals, e.g. defensive agents or pheromones. The reaction of geranyl pyrophosphate with isopentenyl pyrophosphate results in the 15-carbon farnesyl pyrophosphate, an intermediate in the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenes such as farnesene. Cyclic sesquiterpenes are more common than cyclic monoterpenes because of the increased chain length and additional double bond in the sesquiterpene precursors. In addition to common six-membered ring systems such as is found in zingiberene, cyclization of one end of the chain to the other end can lead to macrocyclic rings such as humulene; the cadinenes contain two fused six-membered rings. Caryophyllene, a component of many essential oils such as clove oil, contains a nine-membered ring fused to a cyclobutane ring.
Vetivazulene and guaiazulene are aromatic bicyclic sesquiterpenoids. With the addition of a third ring, the possible structures become varied. Examples include longifolene and the alcohol patchoulol; the FPP backbone can be rearranged in several different ways and further decorated with different functional groups, hence the large variety of sesquiterpenoids. Geosmin, the volatile compound that gives an earthy taste and musty odor in drinking water and the characteristic odor on a rainy day, is a sesquiterpenoid, produced by bacteria cyanobacteria, that are present in the soils and water supplies. Oxidation of farnesene provides the sesquiterpenoid farnesol. Sesquiterpene lactones are a common class of sesquiterpenoids that contain a lactone ring, hence the name, they are found in many plants and can cause allergic reactions and toxicity if overdosed in grazing livestock. Sesquiterpenes at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin, appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects. Amber is used in jewelry, it has been used as a healing agent in folk medicine. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents; because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber occurring in coal seams is called resinite, the term ambrite is applied to that found within New Zealand coal seams; the English word amber derives from Arabic ʿanbar عنبر via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century as referring to what is now known as ambergris, a solid waxy substance derived from the sperm whale. In the Romance languages, the sense of the word had come to be extended to Baltic amber from as early as the late 13th century. At first called white or yellow amber, this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century.
As the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word. The two substances conceivably became associated or confused because they both were found washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense than water and floats, whereas amber is too dense to float, though less dense than stone; the classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον, are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ meaning "beaming Sun". According to myth, when Phaëton son of Helios was killed, his mourning sisters became poplar trees, their tears became elektron, amber; the word elektron gave rise to the words electric and their relatives because of amber's ability to bear a static electricity charge. Theophrastus discussed amber in the 4th century BC, as did Pytheas, whose work "On the Ocean" is lost, but was referenced by Pliny the Elder, according to whose The Natural History: Pytheas says that the Gutones, a people of Germany, inhabit the shores of an estuary of the Ocean called Mentonomon, their territory extending a distance of six thousand stadia.
Earlier Pliny says that Pytheas refers to a large island - three days' sail from the Scythian coast and called Balcia by Xenophon of Lampsacus - as Basilia - a name equated with Abalus. Given the presence of amber, the island could have been Heligoland, the shores of Bay of Gdansk, the Sambia Peninsula or the Curonian Lagoon, which were the richest sources of amber in northern Europe, it is assumed that there were well-established trade routes for amber connecting the Baltic with the Mediterranean. Pliny states explicitly that the Germans exported amber to Pannonia, from where the Veneti distributed it onwards; the ancient Italic peoples of southern Italy used to work amber. Amber used in antiquity as at Mycenae and in the prehistory of the Mediterranean comes from deposits of Sicily. Pliny cites the opinion of Nicias, according to whom amberis a liquid produced by the rays of the sun. Besides the fanciful explanations according to which amber is "produced by the Sun", Pliny cites opinions that are well aware of its origin in tree resin, citing the native Latin name of succinum.
In Book 37, section XI of Natural History, Pliny wrote: Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the pine genus, like gum from the cherry, resin from the ordinary pine. It is a liquid at first, which issues forth in considerable quantities, is hardened Our forefathers, were of opinion that it is the juice of a tree, for this reason gave it the name of "succinum" and one great proof that it is the produce of a tree of the pine genus, is the fact that it emits a pine-like smell when rubbed, that it burns, when ignited, with the odour and appearance of torch-pine wood, he states that amber is found in Egypt and in India, he refers to the electrostatic properties of amber, by saying that "in Syria the women make the whorls of their spindles of this substance, give it the name of harpax from the circumstance that it attracts leaves towards it, the light fringe of tissues". Pliny says that the German name of amber was glæsum, "for which reason the Romans, when Germanicus Caesar commanded the fleet in those parts, gave to one of these islands the name of Glæsaria, which by the barbarians was known as Austeravia".
This is confirmed by the recorded Old High German word glas and by the Old English word glær for "amber". In Middle Low German, amber was known as berne-, barn-, börnstēn; the Low German term became dominant in High Germ
Infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy involves the interaction of infrared radiation with matter. It covers a range of techniques based on absorption spectroscopy; as with all spectroscopic techniques, it can be used to study chemicals. Samples may be liquid, or gas; the method or technique of infrared spectroscopy is conducted with an instrument called an infrared spectrometer to produce an infrared spectrum. An IR spectrum can be visualized in a graph of infrared light absorbance on the vertical axis vs. frequency or wavelength on the horizontal axis. Typical units of frequency used in IR spectra are reciprocal centimeters, with the symbol cm−1. Units of IR wavelength are given in micrometers, symbol μm, which are related to wave numbers in a reciprocal way. A common laboratory instrument that uses this technique is a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. Two-dimensional IR is possible as discussed below; the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is divided into three regions. The higher-energy near-IR 14000–4000 cm−1 can excite overtone or harmonic vibrations.
The mid-infrared 4000–400 cm−1 may be used to study the fundamental vibrations and associated rotational-vibrational structure. The far-infrared 400–10 cm−1, lying adjacent to the microwave region, has low energy and may be used for rotational spectroscopy; the names and classifications of these subregions are conventions, are only loosely based on the relative molecular or electromagnetic properties. Infrared spectroscopy exploits the fact that molecules absorb frequencies that are characteristic of their structure; these absorptions occur at resonant frequencies, i.e. the frequency of the absorbed radiation matches the vibrational frequency. The energies are affected by the shape of the molecular potential energy surfaces, the masses of the atoms, the associated vibronic coupling. In particular, in the Born–Oppenheimer and harmonic approximations, i.e. when the molecular Hamiltonian corresponding to the electronic ground state can be approximated by a harmonic oscillator in the neighborhood of the equilibrium molecular geometry, the resonant frequencies are associated with the normal modes corresponding to the molecular electronic ground state potential energy surface.
The resonant frequencies are related to the strength of the bond and the mass of the atoms at either end of it. Thus, the frequency of the vibrations are associated with a particular normal mode of motion and a particular bond type. In order for a vibrational mode in a sample to be "IR active", it must be associated with changes in the dipole moment. A permanent dipole is not necessary. A molecule can vibrate in many ways, each way is called a vibrational mode. For molecules with N number of atoms, linear molecules have 3N – 5 degrees of vibrational modes, whereas nonlinear molecules have 3N – 6 degrees of vibrational modes; as an example H2O, a non-linear molecule, will have 3 × 3 – 6 = 3 degrees of vibrational freedom, or modes. Simple diatomic molecules have only one vibrational band. If the molecule is symmetrical, e.g. N2, the band is not observed in the IR spectrum, but only in the Raman spectrum. Asymmetrical diatomic molecules, e.g. CO, absorb in the IR spectrum. More complex molecules have many bonds, their vibrational spectra are correspondingly more complex, i.e. big molecules have many peaks in their IR spectra.
The atoms in a CH2X2 group found in organic compounds and where X can represent any other atom, can vibrate in nine different ways. Six of these vibrations involve only the CH2 portion: symmetric and antisymmetric stretching, rocking and twisting, as shown below. Structures that do not have the two additional X groups attached have fewer modes because some modes are defined by specific relationships to those other attached groups. For example, in water, the rocking and twisting modes do not exist because these types of motions of the H represent simple rotation of the whole molecule rather than vibrations within it; these figures do not represent the "recoil" of the C atoms, though present to balance the overall movements of the molecule, are much smaller than the movements of the lighter H atoms. The simplest and most important or fundamental IR bands arise from the excitations of normal modes, the simplest distortions of the molecule, from the ground state with vibrational quantum number v = 0 to the first excited state with vibrational quantum number v = 1.
In some cases, overtone bands are observed. An overtone band arises from the absorption of a photon leading to a direct transition from the ground state to the second excited vibrational state; such a band appears at twice the energy of the fundamental band for the same normal mode. Some excitations, so-called combination modes, involve simultaneous excitation of more than one normal mode; the phenomenon of Fermi resonance can arise. The infrared spectrum of a sample is recorded by passing a beam of infrared light through the sample; when the frequency of the IR is the same as the vibrational frequency of a bond or collection of bonds, absorption occurs. Examination of the transmitted light reveals; this mea
Lignite
Lignite referred to as brown coal, is a soft, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its low heat content, it has a carbon content around 60–70 percent. It is mined all around the world, is used exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation, is the coal, most harmful to health. Lignite is brownish-black in color and has a carbon content around 60–70 percent, a high inherent moisture content sometimes as high as 75 percent, an ash content ranging from 6–19 percent compared with 6–12 percent for bituminous coal; the energy content of lignite ranges from 10 to 20 MJ/kg on a mineral-matter-free basis. The energy content of lignite consumed in the United States averages 15 MJ/kg, on the as-received basis; the energy content of lignite consumed in Victoria, averages 8.4 MJ/kg. Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which makes it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum products than higher-ranking coals, its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage.
It is now known that efficient processes which remove latent moisture locked within the structure of brown coal will relegate the risk of spontaneous combustion to the same level as black coal, transform the calorific value of brown coal to a black coal equivalent fuel, reduce the emissions profile of'densified' brown coal to a level similar to or better than most black coals. However, removing the moisture increases the cost of the final lignite fuel; because of its low energy density and high moisture content, brown coal is inefficient to transport and is not traded extensively on the world market compared with higher coal grades. It is burned in power stations near the mines, such as in Australia's Latrobe Valley and Luminant's Monticello plant in Texas; because of latent high moisture content and low energy density of brown coal, carbon dioxide emissions from traditional brown-coal-fired plants are much higher per megawatt generated than for comparable black-coal plants, with the world's highest-emitting plant being Hazelwood Power Station until its closure in March 2017.
The operation of traditional brown-coal plants in combination with strip mining, can be politically contentious due to environmental concerns. In 2014, about 12 percent of Germany's energy and 27 percent of Germany's electricity came from lignite power plants, while in 2014 in Greece, lignite provided about 50 percent of its power needs. An environmentally beneficial use of lignite can be found in its use in cultivation and distribution of biological control microbes that suppress plant disease causing microbes; the carbon enriches the organic matter in the soil while the biological control microbes provide an alternative to chemical pesticides. Reaction with quaternary amine forms a product called amine-treated lignite, used in drilling mud to reduce fluid loss during drilling. Lignite begins as an accumulation of decayed plant material, or peat. Burial by other sediments results in increasing temperature, depending on the local geothermal gradient and tectonic setting, increasing pressure.
This causes compaction of the loss of some of the water and volatile matter. This process, called coalification, concentrates the carbon content, thus the heat content, of the material. Deeper burial and the passage of time result in further expulsion of moisture and volatile matter transforming the material into higher-rank coals such as bituminous and anthracite coal. Lignite deposits are younger than higher-ranked coals, with the majority of them having formed during the Tertiary period; the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, contains estimated reserves of some 65 billion tonnes of brown coal. The deposit is equivalent to 25 percent of known world reserves; the coal seams are up to 100 metres thick, with multiple coal seams giving continuous brown coal thickness of up to 230 metres. Seams are covered by little overburden. Lignite can be separated into two types; the first is xyloid lignite or fossil wood and the second form is the compact lignite or perfect lignite. Although xyloid lignite may sometimes have the tenacity and the appearance of ordinary wood, it can be seen that the combustible woody tissue has experienced a great modification.
It is reducible to a fine powder by trituration, if submitted to the action of a weak solution of potash, it yields a considerable quantity of humic acid. Leonardite is an oxidized form of lignite, which contains high levels of humic acid. Jet is a gem-like form of lignite used in various types of jewelry. "Coal and lignite domestic consumption". Global Energy Statistical Yearbook. 2016. Geography in action – an Irish case study Photograph of lignite Coldry:Lignite Dewatering Process Why Brown Coal Should Stay in the Ground Victoria Australia Brown Coal Factsheet Australian mines atlas
Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti
Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a group of Middle Eocene fossils found in Europe. A. sommerfeldti is one of three species in the ant genus Aphaenogaster to have been noted from fossils found in Baltic amber by William Morton Wheeler. When first examined, Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti was described from a pair of type specimen workers which are fossilized as inclusions in transparent chunks of Baltic amber. Baltic amber is forty six million years old, having been deposited during Lutetian stage of the Middle Eocene. There is debate on what plant family the amber was produced by, with evidence supporting relatives of either an Agathis relative or a Pseudolarix relative. All the type specimens were collected over 125 years ago, when first described were part of the University of Königsberg amber collection; the fossils were first studied by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr who placed the species in the genus Aphaenogaster. Mayr's 1868 type description of the new species was published in the Königsberg journal Beiträge zur Naturkunde Preussens.
William Morton Wheeler in his 1915 paper The ants of the Baltic amber noted that the University of Königsberg collections contained a total of fourteen workers, plus one unnumbered specimen. An additional three were present in the private collection of Professor Richard Klebs, who first interested Wheeler on working with Baltic amber ant specimens. Alongside A. sommerfeldti, three other Aphaenogaster species are known from European amber fossil, A. antiqua, A. mersa, A. oligocenica. While both A. oligocenica and A. sommerfeldti are known from Baltic and Bitterfeld amber, A. mersa has only been found in Baltic amber and A. antiqua from Rovno amber. Overall Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti can be distinguished from the related Baltic amber species A. oligocenica in several ways. A. sommerfeldti individuals have an overall more sloped and curved mesonotum with the epinotum showing more tooth liked projections on the surface seen in A. oligocenica. The other Baltic amber species, A. mersa, shows a more extensive amount of rugose structuring to the head and body, with a reticulation in the structuring, while that of A. sommerfeldti is a longitudinal striate pattern.
A. sommerfeldti shows a similar morphology to the living species A. subterranea from the warmer areas of southern Europe. The two species differ in the more upright spines on the epinotum of A. sommerfeldti. The head capsule of A. sommerfeldti is slimmer with thinner antenna segments and more complex rugosity on the rear of the capsule
Kaliningrad Amber Combine
Joint Stock Company Kaliningrad Amber Combine is the only official amber mine in Russia, located in Yantarny, Kaliningrad Oblast. The combine extracts up to 400 tonnes of amber annually, is owned by the state corporation Rostec; the region around the combine holds 90% of the world's extractable amber, the Kaliningrad Combine accounts for 65% of the global amber market. Most of the combine's production is sold to China; the Kaliningrad Combine owns the Malyshevskoye emerald mine in Malysheva, Sverdlovsk Oblast, the only commercial emerald mine in Russia, produces beryllium ores and concentrates in the same facility. In 2017 the company held Russia's first emerald auction on the Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange; the Kaliningrad Amber Combine, the world's biggest enterprise for the mining and processing of amber, was established in 1947 on the basis of the Königsberg Amber Factory, part of the amber manufacturing industry of East Prussia. The Königsberg Amber Factory had its origins in the second half of the 19th century, when the Stantien & Becker company leased the Palmniken quarry from the government.
Stantien & Becker introduced industrial methods to amber mining, by employing steam-powered excavators. The East Prussian government terminated the company's lease in 1899, granting amber extraction rights to the state-owned Koeniglichen Bernsteinwerke. In the same year, Stantien & Becker started an amber processing operation in Königsberg, which employed 600 workers by 1912 and processed about 80 tons of amber; the amber business was purchased by Preussag AG in 1924. After the Nazis gained power in 1933 the government centralized the management of amber extraction and production to Berlin. In general, they were uninterested in boosting amber production, preferring to focus investment on military industries. After the end of World War II the company came under Soviet ownership, was re-established in 1947; the two gulags, one for men who worked in the mine, one for women who worked in the factory, were disbanded in 1953 on Stalin's death.1958 saw the introduction of hydraulic mining, a safer and more economic method compared to the excavation mining operations, which risked causing significant landslides.
Hydraulic mining continues to the present day. The Walter quarry was opened in 1912; when its resources had been depleted in 1976 the new Primorsky quarry was commissioned, where mining continues to this day. The project envisaged a more modern technology of amber mining and processing, with the use of a multi-bucket excavator for excavating amber rock into a concentrating factory by using sea water; the company was privatized during the early 1990s, but the decision was annulled by the Kaliningrad Regional Court due to the unique nature of the company. In 2015 it was transferred to the state corporation Rostec with a presidential decree. In 2015 it had 1.3 billion rubles in revenues, extracted 310 tons of amber. Baltic amber Kaliningrad Amber Museum Official website
