THE SYNTHESIS OF ISOEUGENOL FROM EUGENOL BY PHOTOCATALYSIS METHOD

• Main Author: Ayazida Aunu Robby, Asa
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/36079
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Clove is one of the largest agricultural commodities in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the use of cloves is still limited to the use of clove flowers while other parts are wasted. Clove oil obtained from clove leaves can be extracted to produce eugenol which is the precursor of vanillin. Unfortunately, the industrial production of vanillin usually involved the use of harmful materials with dangerous reaction conditions. Therefore, an alternative method that is more environmentally friendly and safer method is needed. The synthesis of isoeugenol as one of the stages in the vanillin synthesis process needs to be studied in order to obtain a better alternative synthesis method. One of the synthesis methods continuesly to be developed recently is through the photocatalytic reaction method using TiO2 as photocatalyst and conventional methods utilizing reflux technique. In this study, the synthesis of isoeugenol from eugenol has been carried out using the photocatalytic method. The characterization of the synthesized isoeugenol was carried out using mass spectrometry, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The optimum condition in the isoeugenol synthesis using photocatalytic method has been achieved using the following parameters: 30 minutes photocatalytic time accompanied by continuous air flowing, stirring speed of 350 rpm, the use of 0.15 grams of TiO2, and 50 mL of water. Photocatalysis eugenol at its optimum condition produced isoeugenol with a yield of 37%. The product obtained has fluorescent properties that occured due to the electron conjugation of the isoeugenol double bonds. The structure characterization of isoeugenol using 13C-NMR (125 MHz, CDCl3) indicated a change of chemical shift that originates from a vinyl group that directly conjugated with aromatic electrons within benzene ring. The molecular mass of product according to the mass spectrometry measurement’s result is 164 grams/mole which is corresponded to the molecular mass of isoeugenol. This research is expected to be able to initiate further research regarding the development method to synthesize vanillin through isoeugenol as intermediate.