A class of organic compounds containing half the number of carbon atoms found in a typical terpene.
From hemi- (half) + terpene (from Greek turpentine). Developed in organic chemistry to classify smaller terpene derivatives discovered in the 20th century.
Hemiterpenes are basically 'baby terpenes'—while regular terpenes are found in pine trees and give them their smell, hemiterpenes have half the molecular structure and show up in plants too, helping chemists understand how plants build complex molecules.
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