Characterization of p ‐menthanols and p ‐menthanyl acetates

Menthanyl acetate is a commercial product used in the formulation of fragrances. This material and its precursor, p ‐menthanol, were each found to be mainly mixtures of four isomers. The use of preparative GC and 1 H‐NMR spectroscopy proved invaluable in distinguishing the isomers of the p ‐menthanols and p ‐menthanyl acetates. This work identifies each isomer and corrects spectroscopic assignments previously reported in the literature. 1 H‐NMR distinguished isomers with axial and equatorial methyl and hydroxyl groups on a cyclohexane ring.