Abstract
The leaf essential oil of Dendropanax gonatopodus from Monteverde, Costa Rica, has been obtained by hydrodistillation and the chemical composition determined by GC-MS. The major components in the leaf oil were (E)-2-hexenal (16.9%), terpinolene (14.8%), δ-cadinene (13.5%), (E)-caryophyllene (9.9%), and α-copaene (7.3%). Minor amounts of the aromadendrane sesquiterpenoids aromadendrene (0.3%), alloaromadendrene (0.3%), spathulenol (0.6%) and globulol (0.6%) were also detected. An ab initio investigation of the aromadendrane sesquiterpenoids has been carried out using both density functional (B3LYP/6-31G*) and post Hartree-Fock (MP2/6-31G**) methods. The calculated relative energies of the aromadendranes belie their relative concentrations generally observed in essential oil compositions.
