methyl salycilate

[mevans]

i made a small sample of this compound and put it in a small 1 dram jar. At first it was a kind of brown green color. I then put this vial up on my window sill and left it there while i went to school. when i got home, the methyl salycilate was a much darker brown (a little darker than nest brown). My best guess is that there is a decomposition of my methyl salycilate. Do you think it wold still be ok to keep or is the new color a particularly nasty decomposition product. If it is ok to keep, would removing it from the light change its color again (im thinking equilibrium)

[thompson]

Pure methyl salicylate is almost colorless, but you'd have to distill your raw product to purify it. Otherwise, you have a mixture of reactants, product, and probably some byproducts. I wouldn't worry about it.

[mevans]

its weird becuase today it was even a little bit darker brown but i smelled it and it smells more like wintergreen