Chapter 1: An Introduction to Essential Oils
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD...............................................................................................................i
THE dōTERRA OIL CHEMISTRY WHEEL..................................................... ii
PART 1: THE BASICS OF ESSENTIAL OIL CHEMISTRY.......................... 2
1. An Introduction to Essential Oils.............................................................. 3
1.1 What are essential oils?............................................................................................... 3
Essential oils are called “essential” because they are the
“essence” of a plant...................................................................................................... 3
Why do plants produce essential oils?.......................................................... 3
1.2 Obtaining Essential oils from plant parts........................................................ 3
Steam Distillation............................................................................................................ 3
Cold Press............................................................................................................................ 4
Solvent Extraction.......................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Essential Oils are complex mixtures of aromatic compounds...... 4
Essential oils are made of volatile aromatic compounds................ 4
Essential oils can be made up of anywhere between 1
and 1000 different compounds with different chemical
identities................................................................................................................................ 5
The exact composition of an essential oil varies between plant
species................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Essential Organic Chemistry...................................................................... 6
2.1 Oil usage is linked to oil chemistry......................................................................6
2.2 The carbon backbone..................................................................................................6
Terpenes............................................................................................................................... 7
Monoterpenes..................................................................................................................8
Sesquiterpenes................................................................................................................8
2.3 Introduction to Functional Groups......................................................................9
3. The Functional Groups and their Functions......................................10
3.1 Alcohols..................................................................................................................................11