Methyl benzoate

Methyl benzoate is an organic compound, an ester with the chemical formula C6H5CO2CH3. It is a colorless liquid that is poorly soluble in water, but miscible with organic solvents. With a strong, dry-fruity, slightly phenolic odor.

It has a strong smell, and it is used in perfumery. MB can be isolated from the freshwater fern Salvinia molesta. It is one of many compounds that is attractive to males of various species of orchid bees, which gather the chemical to synthesize pheromones; it is commonly used as bait to attract and collect these bees for study. Cocaine hydrochloride hydrolyzes in moist air to give methyl benzoate;  drug-sniffing dogs are thus trained to detect the smell of methyl benzoate.

Methyl benzoate [93-58-3] has been found in essential oils e.g., ylang-ylang oil. can be converted simply into other benzoates by transesterification. Since methyl benzoate is a fairly large by-product in the manufacture of terylene, earlier synthetic routes such as those starting from benzoic acid or benzoyl chloride have largely been abandoned.

Profile:

• 📂 CAS N° 93-58-3

• ⚖️ MW 136,15 g/mol

• 📝 Odor Type: Narcotic (some say phenolic)

• 📈 Odor Strength: High

• 👃🏼 Odor Profile: Narcotic Strong Medicinal Floral (Fruity) bitter Sharp Powdery. strong phenolic, similar to cresol/wintergreen oil, sweet-floral like ylang-ylang, tuberose.

• 👅 Flavor Profile: Chemical with a phenolic and cherry pit note. medicinal-balsamic, in dilution slightly fruity.

• ⚗️ Uses: brown nuts, vanilla, savory spices, fruity red, fruity yellow, fruity tropical, sweets, alcoholics. It also finds use as a solvent and as a pesticide used to attract insects such as orchid bees. Finds use also in perfume bases, such as ylang-ylang and tuberose types.

• Synonyms: Benzoic acid, methyl ester; Clorius; Methyl benzene carboxylate; Methylbenzoate; Methyl benzoate; Niobe oil; Oil of Niobe; Oxidate LE

• Description: Methyl benzoate has a fruity odor, Similar to Cananga.

• Consumption: Annual: 1300.00 lb. 

• Synthesis: By heating benzoic acid and dimethyl sulfate to high temperature, or by the exchange between ethyl benzoate and methanol in KOH solution.  

• Aroma threshold values: Detection: 110 ppb 

• Taste threshold values: Taste characteristics at 30 ppm: phenolic and cherry pit with a camphoraceous nuance. 

• Natural occurrence: Reported in the oils of tuberose (flowers), ylang-ylang, clove.Polianthes tuberosa.L. lowers) and Narcissus jonquilla L (flowers).

Also reported found in banana, sweet and sour cherry, guava, orange juice, grapes, berries, papaya, peach, pineapple, peas, cassia leaf, clove bud, mustard, pepper, vinegar, Gruyere cheese, butter, yogurt, hop oil, cognac, coffee, tea, honey, olive, prune, mushroom, starfruit, mango, tamarind, rice, prickly pear, dill herb, soursop, cashew apple, basil, dried bonito, cherimoya, kiwifruit, myrtle berry, mountain papaya, Bourbon vanilla, Cape gooseberry, sapodilla, naranjilla, hog plum, pimento berry, German chamomile oil, bilberry, cranberry, black currant, tuberose, and clove.

Sources and information

• Fulvio Ciccolo

• Common Fragrance and Flavor Materials: Preparation and Uses, Fourth, Completely Revised Edition; Kurt Bauer, Dorothea Garbe, Horst Surburg Copyright 5 2001 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH ISBN: 3-527-60020-5 Electronic

• Burdock, George A.; Fenaroli’s handbook of flavor ingredients. -- 6th ed. / George A. Burdock. ISBN 978-1-4200-9077-2

• National Center for Biotechnology Information (2020). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 7150, Methyl benzoate. Retrieved November 24, 2020 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Methyl-benzoate.