The natural abundance
2H NMR spectra of extractive coumarin
10 and of its dihydroderivative melilotol
11 produced by baker's yeast reduction has been compared with synthetic materials. Diagnostic forthe differentiation of
10 are the (D/H)
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
values, which are in the 128.1-133.6 ppm interval for thenatural compounds but 258.5 and 189.8 ppm for the synthetic materials. Such a dramatic differenceis also found for methyl cinnamate
12, which shows (D/H)
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
values of 127.2 and 515.8 ppm,respectively. In extractive
10, the ratio (D/H)
4(para)/(D/H)
6(ortho) = 1.24 is similar to that observed instructurally related salicin and methyl salicylate. Coumarin
10 is transformed in salicyl alcohol
9,providing diacetate
14, showing in the natural series the trend (D/H)
3(meta) > (D/H)
4(para) > (D/H)
5(meta)~ (D/H)
6(ortho). A similar trend is shown also by the synthetic
10. A clear distinction between extractiveand synthetic
10 is obtained through
18O determinations on
10 and on chroman
13. The bulk
18Ovalues in the extractive series of
10 are 20.3, 23.6, and 22.6, while those of the aromatic oxygenare 2.3, 0.5, and -0.5. In the synthetic sample, the values are 12.6 and 5.6, respectively. As afinal product, the reduction of
10 leads to the dihydroderivative
11. Both the baker's yeast reductionand the catalytic hydrogenation lead to a marked decrease of the deuterium content of
11, which isstronger for the
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-position than for the
![](/images/gifchars/alpha.gif)
-position.Keywords: Coumarin; extractive; synthetic; deuterium NMR; chroman; positional
18O values;dihydrocoumarin; methyl cinnamate