ABSTRACT
Methyl salicylate is a compound currently used in the creation of many flavors. It can be obtained by synthesis or from two natural sources: essential oil of wintergreen and essential oil of sweet birch bark. Deuterium site-specific natural isotope abundance (A(i)) determination by NMR spectroscopy with the method of reference ERETIC ((2)H-ERETIC-NMR) has been applied to this compound. A(i) measurements have been performed on 19 samples of methyl salicylate from different origins, natural/synthetic and commercial/extracted. This study demonstrates that appropriate treatment performed on the data allows discrimination between synthetic and natural samples. Moreover, the representation of intramolecular ratios R(6/5) as a function of R(3/2) distinguishes between synthetics, wintergreen oils, and sweet birch bark oils.
Subject(s)
Deuterium , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Salicylates/classification , Betula/chemistry , Oils, Volatile/chemistry , Plant Bark/chemistry , Salicylates/analysis , Salicylates/chemistryABSTRACT
Deuterium site-specific natural isotope abundance (Ai) is routinely measured by NMR spectroscopy and quantified using an internal reference peak. This study demonstrates that the substitution of the chemical compound used as internal reference by an electronically generated signal (the ERETIC method) allows a dramatic reduction of the experimental time. Measurements of Ai on eight samples of methylsalicylate have been performed using either an internal reference (TMU) or ERETIC. No significant difference in accuracy or precision had been found between the two methods. However, because the method is applicable in partially saturated conditions, the experiment time was divided by a factor of 4 and the drawbacks associated with an internal chemical reference were avoided when ERETIC was used.
