4811. p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde

Nomenclature

CAS number: 123-08-0
4-Formylphenol.
C7H6O2; mol wt 122.12.
C 68.85%, H 4.95%, O 26.20%.

Description and references

Widely distributed in plants in very small amounts. Obtained as a byproduct from the Reimer-Tiemann reaction for salicylaldehyde from phenol: L. F. Fieser, M. Fieser, Organic Chemistry (Reinhold, New York, 3rd ed., 1956) p 681; cf. Reimer, Tiemann, Ber. 9, 824 (1876); Herzfeld, Tiemann, Ber. 10, 64 (1877).

Chemical structure

Properties

Needles from water. Slight, agreeable, aromatic odor, mp 116°. Sublimes at atmospheric pressure without decomposition. Reacts like a weak monobasic acid: Ka at 25° = 2.2×108. Dipole moment: 4.19. Sparingly sol in cold water: 1.38 g/100 ml H2O at 30.5°; more sol in hot water. Freely sol in alc, ether. Slightly sol in benzene: 3.68 g/100 ml C6H6 at 65°.