METHYL SALICYLATE
What is METHYL SALICYLATE?
Synthetic Ingredient For Perfumery Overview
Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen or wintergreen oil) is an organic ester naturally produced by many species of plants, particularly wintergreens. The compound was first extracted and isolated from plant species Gaultheria procumbens in 1843. Also synthetically produced, used as a fragrance, in foods and beverages, and in liniments. It forms a colorless to yellow or reddish liquid and exhibits a characteristic odor and taste of wintergreen. For acute joint and muscular pain, methyl salicylate is used as a rubefacient and analgesic in deep heating liniments. The Flavor industry use it as a flavoring agent in chewing gums and mints in small concentrations and added as antiseptic in mouthwash solutions.we can find Methyl 2-hydroxybenzoate in beverages, white wine, tea, porcini mushroom Boletus edulis, Bourbon vanilla, clary sage, red sage and fruits including cherry, apple, raspberry, papaya and plum. Found in leaves of Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen). Methyl salicylate is potentially deadly, especially in the pediatric population. A single teaspoon (5 ml) of methyl salicylate contains approximately 6 g of salicylate, which is equivalent to almost twenty 300 mg aspirin tablets (5 mL × 1.174 g/mL = 5.87 g). Toxic ingestions of salicylates typically occur with doses of approximately 150 mg/kg body weight. This can be achieved with 1 ml of oil of wintergreen, which equates to 140 mg/kg of salicylates for a 10 kg child (22 lbs). The lowest published lethal dose is 101 mg/kg body weight in adult humans, (or 7.07 grams for a 70-kg adult). It has proven fatal to small children in doses as small as 4 ml. A seventeen-year-old cross-country runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island died in April 2007 after her body absorbed methyl salicylate through excessive use of topical muscle-pain relief products.Most instances of human toxicity due to methyl salicylate are a result of over-application of topical analgesics, especially involving children. Salicylate, the major metabolite of methyl salicylate, may be quantitated in blood, plasma or serum to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized patients or to assist in an autopsy.
Profile
📂 CAS N° 119-36-8
⚖️ MW — 152.15 g/mol
📝 Odor Type — Narcotic / Medicinal. (Non trained users will say Minty but is a mistake)
📈 Odor Strength — high, recommend smelling in 10% sol.
👃🏼 Odor Profile — Warm, sweet, rooty-fruity medicinal, salicylate, wintergreen, tuberose odor with bur- ning sensation at high concentration. As a result of the subconscious reaction in people who are regular users of candy, flavored with Methylsalicylate, or dentifrice etc., the comment “minty” is often used for description of the flavor or odor of this ester. The most reliable judges for odor description are those who are not users of the item as a flavor.
👅 Flavor Profile — Sweet, salicylate and root beer with aromatic and balsamic nuances
⚗️ Uses — It is used in low concentrations (0.04% and under) as a flavoring agent in chewing gum and mints. When mixed with sugar and dried it is a potentially entertaining source of triboluminescence, gaining the tendency to build up electrical charge when crushed or rubbed. This effect can be observed by crushing wintergreen Life Savers in a dark room.Maximum usage in leave on skin applications: 0.2900 % and are based on the assumption that the fragrance mixture is used at 20% in a consumer product (IFRA Use Level Survey).
maximum level in:
fragrance concentrate: 10.00%
for cosmetic use: 0.1300%
Different uses
Methyl salicylate is used in high concentrations as a rubefacient and analgesic in deep heating liniments (such as Bengay) to treat joint and muscular pain. Randomized double blind trial reviews report evidence of its effectiveness that is weak, but stronger for acute pain than chronic pain, and that effectiveness may be due entirely to counter-irritation. However, in the body it metabolizes into salicylates, including salicylic acid, a known NSAID.It is used as an antiseptic in Listerine mouthwash produced by the Johnson & Johnson company meanwhile provides fragrance to various products and as an odor-masking agent for some organophosphate pesticides.More uses for methyl salicylate:
bait for attracting male orchid bees for study, which apparently gather the chemical to synthesize pheromones.
clear plant or animal tissue samples of color, and as such is useful for microscopy and immunohistochemistry when excess pigments obscure structures or block light in the tissue being examined. This clearing generally only takes a few minutes, but the tissue must first be dehydrated in alcohol.
transfer agent, to produce a manual copy of an image on a surface.
stimulant or surrogate for the research of chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard, due to its similar chemical and physical properties.
restoring (at least temporarily) the elastomeric properties of old rubber rollers, especially in printers.
penetrating oil to loosen rusted parts.
Sources:
National Center for Biotechnology Information (2020). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 4133, Methyl salicylate. Retrieved November 25, 2020 from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Methyl-salicylate.