Mentol: Um Importante Produto Natural no Ensino de Química

Resumo

This article highlights the importance of natural products in chemistry teaching by showcasing two
substances, menthol, and menthone, which offer ample opportunities to teach different chemical
concepts. Educators can illustrate functional group transformations, oxidation reactions, principles of
green chemistry, structural elucidation, stereochemistry, and conformation analysis, thereby providing
students with a comprehensive and integrated understanding of chemistry. This work, in addition to
theoretical concepts, presents experiments that are safe, low-cost, easy to acquire, and capable of being
reproduced in undergraduate laboratories, to bridge the gap between academic chemistry teaching and
its real-world applications.