Oiling out or molten hydrate-liquid-liquid phase separation in the system vanillin-water

Vanillin crystals in a saturated aqueous solution disappear and a second liquid phase emerges when the temperature is raised above 51°C. The phenomenon has been investigated with crystallization and equilibration experiments, using DSC, TGA, XRD and hot‐stage microscopy for analysis. The new liquid solidifies on cooling, appears to melt at 51°C, and has a composition corresponding to a dihydrate. However, no solid hydrate can be detected by XRD, and it is shown that the true explanation is that a liquid-liquid phase separation occurs above 51°C where the vanillin‐rich phase has a composition close to a dihydrate. To our knowledge, liquid-liquid phase separation has not previously been reported for the system vanillin-water, even though thousands of tonnes of vanillin are produced globally every year. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 96: 2390-2398, 2007