Patent ID: 7399889

Claim:
A process for the preparation of vanillin from agricultural waste which comprises reacting a ferulate containing renewable agro-waste with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a catalyst selected from manganese acetate, manganese chloride, manganese nitrate and manganese sulphate and co-catalysts selected from salts of cobalt, nickel and copper, essentially with potassium and sodium salt, sodium acetate and mineral acid or acetic acid in water under reflux for a period in the range of 1-3 hours, cooling the above said reaction mixture to a temperature of about 25-300° C., separating the solid mass by filtration, followed by washing with water, collecting the washing along with filterate and extracting it with an organic solvent followed by washing the organic part with sodium bi-carbonate and water, respectively and drying the resultant organic layer by known methods to obtain the desired product and reusing the aqueous layer for further reaction with agrowaste.