Essential Oil Composition and Enantioselective Profile of (Lamiaceae) and (Lamiaceae) from Utah.

Two species within the Lamiaceae (mint) family, and , are aromatic plants that are native to the Intermountain Region (USA). Essential oil produced through steam distillation was examined to establish the essential oil yield and both the achiral and chiral aromatic profiles of both plant species. The resulting essential oils were analyzed by GC/MS, GC/FID, and MRR (molecular rotational resonance). For and , achiral essential oil profiles were largely composed of limonene (71.0%, 27.7%), -β-ocimene (3.6%, 6.9%), and pulegone (15.9%, 4.3%), respectively. Between the two species, eight chiral pairs were analyzed and, interestingly, the dominant enantiomer (calculated as ee%) of limonene and pulegone switched between the two species. Where enantiopure standards were not commercially available, MRR was used as a reliable analytical technique for chiral analysis. This study verifies the achiral profile for and, for the first time to the authors' knowledge, establishes the achiral profile for and chiral profile for both species. Additionally, this study confirms the utility and practicality of using MRR for determining chiral profiles in essential oils.