Vanillin
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| Molecular Formula: C8H8O3 |
Vanillin is my favorite organic molecule because it is the main molecule that contributes to the smell of vanilla and is used in many of my favorite foods such as vanilla ice cream or chocolate. I love using vanilla extract when baking and it also tastes really good when added to pancake batter. Vanilla plants were originally grown in Mexico and the famous explorer Cortés took both chocolate and vanilla back to Spain. Thus starting the spread of the popularity of Vanilla. Vanilla has a very distinctive taste and smell, but 95% of vanillin is now synthetic because natural resources were not able to support the demand as increasing globalization allowed for more exportation. I was surprised to find out that most people actually prefer the synthetic Vanillin to the natural Vanillin found in the vanilla orchid.
Sources:
Synthetic Vanillin has many sources. Until the 1920's, the main source of synthetic Vanillin came from clove oil. A compound called Eugenol was used to make Vanillin because it was structurally very similar to Vanillin. Another source of synthetic Vanillin is Lignin which is a part of the cell walls of trees and other land plants. Lignin is removed when making bleached white paper from the pulp of those trees and from that, Vanillin can be created. Lignin is the reason why old newspapers turn yellow. By far the strangest source of Vanillin is from Lignin in cow dung which was discovered by a scientist named Mayu Yamamoto.
Uses:
It is well known that Vanillin is used in foods such as chocolate or ice cream, but Vanillin has many uses besides those in food. It was first used in perfumes in 1889 and surprisingly, Vanillin is actually used in many pharmaceuticals. Vanillin is an anticonvulsant which means that it can help prevent seizures and it can also help prevent some mutations. I was most surprised to learn that Vanillin is used in L-dopa. L-dopa is a drug used to treat Parkinson's Disease. It is also used in a heart medication called Papaverine.
Vanillin has a rich history and is a familiar organic compound all over the world. It is a popular food flavoring and also has many uses that are not as widely known. It is my favorite organic molecule because of it's distinctive aroma and flavor used in my favorite foods.
Text Sources:
Cotton, Simon. "Chemistry in Its Element - Vanillin." Interview by Meera Senthilingam. Royal Society of Chemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014. <http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/CIIEcompounds/transcripts/vanillin.asp>.
Hocking, Martin B. "Vanillin: Synthetic Flavoring from Spent Sulfite Liquor." Journal of Chemical Education 74.9 (1997): 1054-059. Web. 29 Aug. 2014. <http://gnusha.org/~nmz787/pdf/Vanillin_Synthetic_Flavoring_from_Spent_Sulfite_Liquor.pdf>.
"Vanillin." PubChem. National Center for Biotechnology Information, n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2014. <http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=1183#x321>.
"What Is Lignin?" Lignoworks. Western University Institute for Chemicals and Fuels From Alternative Resources, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2014. <http://www.lignoworks.ca/content/what-lignin>.
Picture Sources:
Drawing of Vanillin was made by me using ChemDraw.
I really enjoyed reading your post. And I was surprised to find out that Vanillin is an anticonvulsant and that it's used in many pharmaceuticals
ReplyDeleteYour post caught my attention because Vanilla is my favorite scent! Every time I get scented material, I always get something that smells like vanilla or at least close to it. It was interesting to hear the history behind this molecule. I didn't know most Vanillin were synthetic.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me hungry! I found your information on vanillin to be very useful, and I was able to learn quite a bit from this post. For one, I didn't know vanillin was found in the cell walls of trees. I also found it quite interesting that it can be used as a pharmaceutical to work on treating Parkinson's Disease. To sum up, I found this to be a great post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAwesome imformation! I love anything that contains vanilla because I absolutely love its smell and taste. I never knew it was used as a drug treatment for Parkinson's! Lots of good information I never knew. Thanks for sharing!!!
ReplyDelete