alkylbenzene
The alkylbenzenes are derivatives of benzene, in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by alkyl groups of different sizes. They are a subset of the aromatic hydrocarbons. The simplest member is toluene, in which a hydrogen atom of the benze ...
In addition to ''p''-cymene, two less common geometric isomers are ''o''-cymene, in which the alkyl groups are ''ortho''-substituted, and ''m''-cymene, in which they are ''meta''-substituted. ''p''-Cymene is the only natural isomer, as expected from the terpene rule. All three isomers form the group of cymenes.
Cymene is also produced by alkylation of toluene with propylene.
Related compounds
It is a constituent of a number of
essential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...
thyme. Significant amounts are formed in sulfite pulping process from the wood terpenes.
''p''-Cymene is a common ligand for ruthenium. The parent compound is ''η''6-cymene)RuCl2sub>2. This
half-sandwich compound
Half sandwich compounds, also known as piano stool complexes, are organometallic complexes that feature a cyclic polyhapto ligand bound to an MLn center, where L is a unidentate ligand. Thousands of such complexes are known. Well-known examples in ...
phellandrene
Phellandrenes are a pair of organic compounds that have a similar molecular structure and similar chemical properties. α-Phellandrene and β-phellandrene are cyclic monoterpenes and are double-bond isomers. In α-phellandrene, both double bonds ...
. The
osmium
Osmium (from Greek grc, ὀσμή, osme, smell, label=none) is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76. It is a hard, brittle, bluish-white transition metal in the platinum group that is found as a trace element in alloys, mos ...
complex is also known.
Hydrogenation gives the saturated derivative ''p''-menthane.