Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula C8H8O3. It is the main ingredient
of the volatile compounds of the vanilla pod. Mostly, it has great significance as aroma and
flavor enhancer in food industry. It is also used in the perfume industry and cosmetic industry
as a fragrance and the pharmacy as an agent for covering an unpleasant odor. The natural
vanillin or vanilla extract is produced from the pods of Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla tahitensis,
which are first dried and then extracted by organic solvent. In addition to vanillin, the end
product contains also approximately two hundred other compounds that are present in the
vanilla pod in very small concentrations. Synthetic vanillin is prepared by chemical
transformations from guaiacol, lignin, and coniferin. The interest in the biotechnological
extraction of vanillin is increasing.
The purpose of the bachelor’s thesis was to synthesize derivatives of vanillin and evaluate them
by an olfactory test to ascertain how the change in the chemical structure of a compound
influences their scent. We synthesized ten derivatives of vanillin: ethers, esters, and the reduced
derivative. We cleansed the derivatives by the column adsorption chromatography where we
used the mixture of ethyl acetate and hexane in the ratio 1 : 2. We confirmed the identity of
synthesized products with analytical methods. We evaluated the end compounds olfactory by
an olfactory test where we were interested in pleasantness and the scent intensity, as well as in
the associations of the other scents.
The results of the olfactory analysis showed that the changes in the chemical structure influence
the change in the scent importantly. Three derivatives preserved the pleasant scent of vanillin.
The others were unpleasant. The molecular mass of the compound and the functional group and
the polarity of the molecule influence the intensity of the scent mostly. Greater the molecular
mass and the polarity of the compound are, lesser is the vaporization and thus the scent intensity.
The olfactory analysis showed that synthesized esters have greater scent intensity than ethers.
By the results of the olfactory analysis, we ascertained that the chemical structure (mostly of
the functional group and the size of the molecule) influences the pleasantness and the scent
intensity importantly.
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