Salicyl Alcohol → Salicylaldehyde

Participants

Reaction Steps

DiBella, U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,257, patented June 27, 1972, points out that o-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (saligenin) can be oxidized in the presence of a platinum catalyst to produce salicylaldehyde. However, DiBella states that the reported processes are generally unsatisfactory for use on a commercial scale, because they require the use of large amounts of the catalyst if the necessary reaction rate is to be attained, give low yields of salicylaldehyde, and under certain conditions salicylic acid rather than salicylaldehyde is formed. In U.S. Pat.No. 2,676,189 Britton and Head state that when saligenin was oxidized under a variety of conditions using a platinum or platinum oxide catalyst, it was not possible to convert more than fifteen percent of the saligenin to salicylaldehyde. Marchand and Genet report in U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,526 that when saligenin was oxidized in the presence of boric acid and a platinum catalyst a 12.5% yield or salicylaldehyde was obtained, whereas when a palladium catalyst was used under the same conditions the yield of salicylaldehyde was 83.5%.

Provenance & Evidence