Anisyl formate has a floral, sweet, floral, herbaceous-green odor.
Colorless liquid; lilac odor. Soluble in 5.5 volumes of 70% alcohol. Combustible.
Reported found in Vanilla fragrans and Ribes species.
Anisyl formate is a synthetic flavoring agent that is a fairly stable, colorless to light yellow liquid of floral odor. It should be stored in glass, tin, or resin-lined containers. It is used in berry flavors for applications in beverages, candy, and baked goods at 3–10 ppm.
ChEBI: 4-Methoxybenzyl formate is a carboxylic ester. It is functionally related to a benzyl alcohol.
By direct esterification of anisic alcohol with formic acid.
Odor characteristics are sweet, spicy, vanilla-like with powdery fruity nuances.
Taste characteristics at 50 ppm: sweet, vanilla, spice, with fruity heliotropine-like nuances.
Flammability and Explosibility
Not classified
Esters of benzyl alcohol, such as the acetate, are rapidly hydrolysed in vivo to benzyl alcohol, which is then oxidized. The expected general reaction of primary aromatic alcohols in the animal body is oxidation to the corresponding aromatic acid, which is usually excreted as a glycine conjugate and to a lesser extent as an ester glucuronide. In rabbits, benzyl alcohol is almost entirely converted to benzoic acid, which is excreted mainly as hippuric acid . In substituted anisoles with a carboxyl group or a potential carboxyl group attached to the aromatic ring, the ether link is relatively stable(Williams, 1959).
