3,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde

DescriptionProtocatechualdehyde is extracted from roots of the common traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge, which was harvested in autumn for better quality. Take root and remove stems, leaves and fibrous roots, then dry it. Most of them are wide, and they are mainly cultivated in recent years. South Salvia and Gansu Salvia are also widely used. Besides, there are a variety of sibling plant roots used as Salvia miltiorrhiza in Yunnan. Now, the existence of protocatechualdehyde has been found in variety of herbs, for example, in the leaf of Stenoloma Chusanum (L.) Ching and Ilex chinensis Sims.

HistoryIn the 1940s, the research was conducted overseas to obtain protocatechualdehyde form herbs. In 1972, the chemical group of Chinese herbal medicine in Nanjing College of Pharmacy systematically studied chemical composition in purple flower holly leaf and separated six monomers including protocatechualdehyde. Then they compared the effect of protocatechualdehyde, Salvia miltiorrhiza injection and hairy holly root injection, in which protocatechualdehyde is the most effective in increasing coronary sinus flow. Further experiments examined that protocatechualdehyde can increase coronary flow and improve coronary circulation, so it was called after perhexiline. Further clinical observation indicated that protocatechualdehyde has effect on coronary heart disease. The graduates of Nanjing College of Pharmacy in 1975 extracted, separated, isolated, and identified protocatechualdehyde in Salviamiltiorrhiza during the internship in Nanjing Municipal Hospital and studied its distribution, excretion, and toxicity in animals for clinical rational drug usage

Uses3,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde is used in as an apoptosis inducer of human leukemia cells.

Uses3,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde may be used for the surface modification of nanocrystalline TiO2 particles. Electrodeposited layer of 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde may be used as effective redox mediator during oxidation of NADH at graphene. It may be used in the preparation of new diSchiff base ligands, which forms di-, tri- and tetranuclear Co(II) and Cu(II) complexes.

General Description3,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde has been recognized as one of the antifungal compound extracted from the outer skin of green Cavendish bananas. It can be synthesized from catechol via Fries rearrangement.