15 Facts About Coumarin

Coumarin or 2H-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula.

Coumarin is a colorless crystalline solid with a sweet odor resembling the scent of vanilla and a bitter taste.

Coumarin is derived from coumarou, the French word for the tonka bean.

Coumarin was first isolated from tonka beans in 1820 by A Vogel of Munich, who initially mistook it for benzoic acid.

Coumarin was first synthesized in 1868 by the English chemist William Henry Perkin.

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Coumarin has been an integral part of the fougere genre of perfume since it was first used in Houbigant's Fougere Royale in 1882.

Coumarin can be prepared by a number of name reactions, with the Perkin reaction between salicylaldehyde and acetic anhydride being a popular example.

Coumarin is found naturally in many edible plants such as strawberries, black currants, apricots, and cherries.

Coumarin is transformed into the natural anticoagulant dicoumarol by a number of species of fungi.

Coumarin is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a precursor reagent in the synthesis of a number of synthetic anticoagulant pharmaceuticals similar to dicoumarol.

Coumarin dyes are extensively used as gain media in blue-green tunable organic dye lasers.

Coumarin is often found in artificial vanilla substitutes, despite having been banned as a food additive in numerous countries since the mid-20th century.

Coumarin was banned as a food additive in the United States in 1954, largely because of the hepatotoxicity results in rodents.

Coumarin is currently listed by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States among "Substances Generally Prohibited From Direct Addition or Use as Human Food, " according to 21 CFR 189.

Coumarin held that from a chemist's point of view, coumarin is an “immediate precursor” to the rodenticide coumadin.