Pine Tar

NaturalWOODSsmoky · woody · leathery

BasePyramid

—Strength

—Tenacity

2Origins

Specimen

Definition

Pine tar is a form of wood tar made from pine wood. In its rectified form it is a sweet, smoky, woody material.

Pine tar oil, wood tar oil

Type: Ingredient
Olfactive family: Woody
Subfamily: Smoky woods
Cluster: Smoky woods
Source: wood
Chemical class: aromatic hydrocarbons, tar acids, tar bases

Instruments

Pyramid

TTop

HHeart

BBase

Producing countries

Sweden Finland

Scent

The rectified material has a rounded character with leather facets. Pine tar has an odour that is phenolic and smoky. Rectified pine tar is also sweet and woody.

In PREMIEREPEAU

DISCOVERY SET7 × 2 ml →EXTRAIT DE PARFUMThe seven extraits →

Terroir & Maturity

The Full Story

Pine tar consists primarily of aromatic hydrocarbons, tar acids, and tar bases. Its components vary with the pyrolytic process (method, duration, temperature) and with the origin of the wood.

In a pine tar derived from Pinus nigra, 32 compounds have been identified, accounting for 95.5% of the total composition. The largest are methyl dehydroabietate at 22.44%, dehydroabietic acid at 14.59% and retene at 10.08%. These compounds primarily consist of resin acids and their derivatives, along with phenanthrene-based hydrocarbons.

Pine tar has a long history as a wood preservative, as a wood sealant for maritime use, in roofing construction and maintenance, in soaps, and in the treatment of carbuncles and skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea. It is used in baseball to enhance the grip of a hitter's bat. Pine tar served as a preservative on the bottoms of traditional Nordic-style skis until modern synthetic materials replaced wood in their construction, and it also helped waxes adhere. In veterinary care it serves particularly as an antiseptic and as a hoof care treatment for horses and cattle. Pine tar penetrates well into rough wood. Pine tar oil, or wood tar oil, is used for the surface treatment of wooden shingle roofs, boats, buckets, and tubs, and in the medicine, soap, and rubber industries.

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Related: Amberwood · Andiroba · Bakhoor · Balsamic Notes · Benzoin Resinoid · Benzyl Benzoate · Benzyl Salicylate · Birch Tar

History

The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder describes in his Natural History how tar is produced in Europe through the destructive distillation of pine wood. He says the tar was used for coating ships and for many other useful purposes.

Pine tar has long been used in Nordic nations as a preservative for wood which may be exposed to harsh conditions, including outdoor furniture and ship decking and rigging. Tar demand surged in the 17th century as European nations began constructing naval and merchant fleets that required tar and pitch for ship waterproofing and caulking. In Finland, then a part of Sweden, large-scale tar production began in the early 17th century. By the late 17th century, tar was Sweden's third most valuable export commodity. During the period of Swedish rule Finland accounted for 80-85% of all Sweden's tar exports.

In the 18th century, tar from the main burning areas of Central and North Ostrobothnia was exported via Oulu and Gamlakarleby, which handled two thirds of all exports. The Tervahovi storage site, made up of three warehouses for export tar, was established in 1777 in Toppila, Oulu.

In present-day Sweden, large-scale tar production started around 1700. Swedish pine tar was often called Stockholm tar because a single company held a royal monopoly on its export out of Stockholm for many years. Stockholm tar and pine tar are chemically the same and are not different substances. Tar production peaked around the mid-1850s and gradually declined thereafter, largely because new shipbuilding materials reduced the need for tar as a waterproofing agent and the use of hemp rope fell as sailing ships were phased out.

Did You Know?

Chemical analysis strongly indicates that cone-shaped pits north of Uppsala, Sweden, were used to produce pine tar. The oldest of the dated pits, from 540-380 BCE, would be the world's oldest known tar production facility still in existence. A Finnish proverb says that if sauna, vodka and tar do not help, the disease is fatal.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method

The wood is carbonized at high temperature in anoxic conditions, by dry or destructive distillation. It is rapidly decomposed by applying heat and pressure in a closed container, and the primary products are charcoal and pine tar. Pine stumps and roots are used in the traditional production of pine tar. In Finland the traditional technique was tar burning in a pit, that is, dry distillation of wood. The volatile oil of pine tar is rectified by steam distillation.

Formula: Complex natural mixture (key constituents: methyl dehydroabietate; dehydroabietic acid; retene)
CAS: 8011-48-1
Appearance: Blackish-brown viscous liquid
Synonyms: Pine tar oil, wood tar oil

IFRA status

See note

No IFRA Standard for the material itself (51st Amendment)

Physical properties

Boiling point: 150 to 400 °C
Flash point: 90 °C

In Perfumery

Rectified pine tar is a base note.

Role in the formula

01modifier

02signature note

03blender

04volume builder

05fixative

Available as

standard form