Abstract
Treatment of 4-benzylvanillic acid with thionyl chloride, without use of a catalyst, afforded a polymer and sublimation of this polymer in vacuo gave a dimer of vanillide. According to the molecular weight determination and infrared absorption spectra, this polymer was recognized to be a tetramer and to have an ester, so that the polymer must have been formed from four molecules of the acid by removal of benzyl chloride during the reaction. Therefore, it is thought to be a polyester. The sublimate on the other hand was found to be a dimer formed from the tetramer by thermal decomposition.
