This article examines historical aspects of the sassafras oil extraction from the tree Ocotea pretiosa Mez), rich in safrol, in the high and middle valley of Itajaí, an activity that started in 1940 thanks to the initiative of Otto Grimm, in the town of Rio do Sul, considering it within the broader historical context of chemical activities in Santa Catarina. It discusses the extraction procedures used, and explains why this incipient industry did not develop into a fine chemistry industry. In order to do so, some relevant chemical data pertaining to safrol are presented, indicating that such an industry could have evolved, as well as the economical and social aspects that, together with the ban on the sassafras tree cutting, caused in 1990 the premature extinction of this "fine chemistry that might have been".
History of chemistry; Sassafras oil; Safrol; Fine chemistry; Grimm
