Aromatic Aldehydes from the Oxidation of Some Australian Woods and their Chromatographic Separation

Abstract

The mixtures of aromatic aldehydes produced from 12 species of eucalypt woods and eight Australian gymnosperm woods by oxidation with nitrobenzene and alkali were separated by sublimation and the individual aldehydes identified. A paper partition chromatographic method for the separation of the aldehydes was used to confirm the results of the sublimation separation and to identify traces of aldehydes in some of the mixtures. The eucalypt woods all yielded vanillin, syringaldehyde, and traces of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The gymnosperm woods yielded mainly vanillin but traces of syringaldehyde were produced from some and traces of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde from most.