A highly efficient approach to vanillin starting from 4-cresol

A highly efficient approach to vanillin starting from 4-cresol

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2014/GC/C4GC00003J?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2FGC+%28RSC+-+Green+Chem.+latest+articles%29#!divAbstract

Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00003J, Paper

Jian-An Jiang, Cheng Chen, Ying Guo, Dao-Hua Liao, Xian-Dao Pan, Ya-Fei Ji
A highly efficient three-step approach to vanillin has been developed starting from 4-cresol.

A highly efficient approach to the famous flavor and fragrance compound vanillin has been developed starting from 4-cresol with the attention focused on improving the sustainability of all the reactions. The approach involves a three-step sequence of the quasi-quantitative selective clean oxybromination of 4-cresol, the high-yield selective aerobic oxidation of 2-bromo-4-cresol, and the quantitative methoxylation of 3-bromo-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with the recovery of pure methanol. Herein, the pivotal oxidation and methoxylation reactions are logically investigated and developed into two concise methodologies. As a green alternative, the approach holds significant value for the sustainable manufacturing of vanillin.