Process for preparing natural benzaldehyde and acetaldehyde, natural benzaldehyde and acetaldehyde compositions, products produced thereby and organcleptic utilities therefor

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Our invention is directed to the production of "natural" benzaldehyde and/or "natural" acetaldehyde taken alone or in admixture with "natural" cinnamaldehyde according to a reaction where "natural" cinnamaldehyde is subject to a "retro-aldol" reaction, thusly: ##STR9## The cinnamaldehyde reactant may occur in either the "cis" form having the structure: ##STR10## and/or the "trans" form having the structure: ##STR11## The cinnamaldehyde may be in recovered form from natural sources as by distillation or extraction or the cinnamaldehyde may exist in its natural state immediately prior to the reaction, thusly: (i) Oil of Cinnamon Ceylon; (ii) Ceylon Cinnamon Bark (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees ex Blume (fam.
Lauraceae)); (iii) The Bark of Saigon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureirii Nees (fam.
Lauraceae); (iv) The Bark of Cassia cinnamon (ex Cinnamomum cassia (Nees)) Nees ex Blume (fam.
Lauraceae); (v) The Bark of Saigon cinnamon; (vi) Oil of Cinnamon Bark Ceylon; (vii) "Quills" from Ceylon cinnamon (including "fines", "Barcelona" and "Hamburg"); (viii) Ceylon cinnamon quillings and featherings; (ix) Ceylon cinnamon chips; (x) Ceylon cinnamon bark oil; (xi) Oil of cinnamon Seychelles; (xii) Oil of cinnamon Madagascar; (xiii) Leaves of Cassia; (xiv) Cassia Bark (Cassia lignes) in ground or powdered form; (xv) Oil of Cassia.
Thus, the cinnamaldehyde source may be treated with a base such as sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, lithium carbonate, lithium bicarbonate, magnesium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, proline having the structure: ##STR12## choline having the structure: ##STR13## or a natural choline source such as natural lecithin having the structure: ##STR14## in the presence of base (wherein the residues: ##STR15## represent palmitoyl, stearoyl, oleyl, linoleyl, linolenyl and C.
sub.
20 -C.
sub.
22 acid residues) [examples of naturally occurring lecithin are soybean lecithin (reference: "Soybeans, Volume II, (Interscience Publishing Company, New York, 1951), pages 593-647 and natural phosphatide lecithin] whereby a "retro-aldol" reaction takes place, thusly: ##STR16## A requirement of our invention is that no other reagents be present which would cause the reaction to give rise to a composition containing benzaldehyde or acetaldehyde which cannot be described as "natural"