Different botanical substances, such as those found in nature including tree bark, flowers, stems, leaves and many others, contain highly aromatic compounds called essential oils. These oils have become ingredients in the production of perfumes, cosmetics, drinks, food flavoring, air fresheners, household cleaning products and aromatherapy oils. Furthermore, essential oils are also considered traditional medicines, as their therapeutic benefits have become evident for a long time now. They have several uses in different forms such as pastes and salves for minor aches, coughing and congestion, and as therapeutic applications for anxiety, insomnia and relaxation (Antic, 2014).Essential oils are the key components for aroma, taste and flavor in many everyday household materials and substances. For example, toothpaste contains a familiar fragrance and flavor called oil of Wintergreen. To further elucidate on the characteristics of essential oils, Antic explains Extracted oils are mixtures of varying concentrations of many compounds. In addition, essential oils are not oils in the conventional sense, that is, they are not long-chain hydrocarbon compounds, and their strong aroma does not always arise from the presence of an aromatic (phenyl) group in the oil's chemical composition. Instead, essential oils are complex mixtures of low viscosity fluids containing a surprising variety of molecular species and functional group chemistry (2014, p. 1).Cloves are one of the many natural substances that contain essential oils. Their oils are specifically termed as oil of cloves. They are aromatic dried flower buds of the evergreen tropical tree Eugenia aromatica in the family Myrtaceae. There are three available types of essential oils from different clove species all of which have varying chemical composition and flavor: clove bud oil, clove stem oil, and clove leaf oil. The compounds contained in the most expensive and best quality product among the three oils, which is the clove bud oil, contains 80 90% eugenol, 15% eugenol acetate (acetyleugenol) and 5-12% beta caryophyllene (Alma et. al., 2007).(PROVIDE ILLUSTRATION FOR COMPOUNDS)The whole essential oil or the main component of the oil of cloves, as proven by the previous percentile data, is eugenol (C10H12O2, 4-allyl-2-methoxy phenol). It is found from various plants, especially those that are used as spices, but it is primarily extracted from cloves. Its name is derived from the scientific name of the clove tree, Eugenia aromatica or Eugenia caryophyllata. It appears as a clear, yellow liquid which embodies that of the pungent smell provided by the clove itself. It is mainly the component of the oil of clove that is responsible for this odor as well as much of the properties of the clove. Eugenol has contributed greatly in medicinal and industrial fields due to its therapeutic abilities and distinguishing fragrance (Pavithra, 2014). The structure of eugenol reveals its capability of producing a characteristic strong odor. As laid down by Antic, Eugenol is a substituted methoxy phenol compound, a compound structurally similar to vanillin, but with an allylic functional group in place of the aldehyde in the para position (2014, p.1).There are different techniques in isolating essential oils depending on the nature of the botanical material. These include expression (cold-press), solvent, enfleurage (cold-fat) and supercritical fluid (SCF) extraction. However, majority of the essential oils are primarily extracted using steam distillation. Steam distillation is a distinct type of distillation used for separating temperature sensitive substances such as oils, resins and hydrocarbons, which are insoluble in water and may decompose at their boiling point. The principle behind steam distillation is that it enables a compound or mixture of compounds to be distilled at a temperature substantially below that of the boiling point(s) of the individual component(s). In general, essential oils are composed of compounds which have relatively high boiling points from 200 deg cel and above. However, due to the presence of steam or boiling water, these substances are volatilized at a temperature close to 100 deg cel, at atmospheric pressure (Kumar, 2010). In the process of isolating eugenol, it must be deprotonated for it to dissociate into its substituent ion. An alkaline solution can accomplish this course to provide a phenoxide ion, which may be extracted by water. Addition of an acidic solution will transform the ion back to its original nonpolar form. The reaction is illustrated below:

SOURCES:Anthic, D. (2014). picoSpin 45/80: Extraction of Eugenol from Cloves. Thermo Fisher Scientific: Wisconsin, U.S.A., p. 1.Pavithra, B. (2014). Eugenol A Review. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research Vol. 6(3), 153-154.Alma et. al. (2007). Essential oil content, Turkish Clove, BioResources, 2(2), 265 269.Kumar, K.S. (2010). Extraction of essential oil using steam distillation. National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. p. 2.