Isolation of essential oil from lauraceous leaves and Schiff’s reaction based cinnamaldehyde derivatization

The barks of Cinnamomum species found to contain essential oil, namely, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. camphora, C. tamala etcetra. The major component is Cinnamaldehyde. Essential oils from leaves of Lauraceae family have not yet been isolated. It was therefore thought to isolate essential oils from leaves of mentioned species and check presence of Cinnamaldehyde presence. It was found that Cinnaldehyde is found only in C. zeylanicum. At same time, as Cinnamaldehyde is a chief constituent present in Cinnamomum species; it was observed that Cinnamaldehyde has been derivatized to make Schiff’s bases for very few compounds. For example, Cinnamyl chitosan Schiff base was prepared by coupling chitosan with trans-Cinnamaldehyde -the mean component of cinnamon oil- under acidic conditions to form cinnamyl chitosan Schiff base. Therefore, it was further thought worthwhile to derivatise Cinnamldehyde with available Substituted amines available in the local market followed by physical characterization. Keywords: Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. camphora, C. tamala, Cinnamaldehyde, Essential oils, Clevenger Apparatus, LC-MS, Schiff’s bases.