Chemistry of hop constituents. Part 43. Cyclic polysulphides and a thiophen from myrcene, and their occurrence in the essential oil of hops

Abstract

Steam-distilled hop oils (from hops dressed on the bine with sulphur) have been shown to contain 3-(4-methylpent-3-enyl)thiophen (2) and 4-(4-methylpent-3-enyl)-1,2-dithiacyclohex-4-ene (4) together with the corresponding trisulphide (5) and tetrasulphide (6) but not the monosulphide (3). All five compounds are obtainable from myrcene (1) and sulphur and have been characterised, and some alternative syntheses and related work are described.