3-Phenylpropionic acid

Chemical properties

3-Phenylpropionic acid has a faint, sweet odor, somewhat balsamic and coumarin-like with a mildly sweet-sour, vanilla-like taste.

Occurrence

Reported found in raspberry, guava fruit, Vitis vinifera L., papaya, strawberry fruit, cinnamon, cassia leaf, cheddar cheese, cocoa, beer, cognac, white wine, red wine, special wine, rose apple, mushroom, cloudberry, Boletus edulis, fresh mango, licorice and labdanum.

Preparation

By reduction of cinnamic acid using sodium amalgam.

General Description

Hydrocinnamic acid forms complexes with uranium(VI) and has been investigated in aqueous solution by attenuated total reflection fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Hydrocinnamic acids are the major rhizospheric compounds with known growth regulatory activity.

The Uses of 3-Phenylpropionic acid

3-Phenylpropionic acid is rarely, if ever, used in perfumes, but it finds some use in flavor compositions, mainly as a fixative in Vanilla imitation, in complexes as a sweetener, and in Cheese imitation flavor for its mild pungency and herbaceous character.