Solvent-mediated effects in NMR spectra of 2-formyl phenoxyacetic acid-chromatographic evidence for internal cyclisation and tautomerization

The chromatographic analyses reveal that formylphenoxy acetic acid in methanol undergoes autocyclization to afford its cyclic hemiacctal,which slowly transforms into its enolic tautomer and develops equilibrium between them. the concentration of these time lapsed products significantly enhanced on adding conc. hcl. the 1h-and 13c-nmr data are used to establish their formation antimicrobial activity revealed that fpa showed good growth inhibition for gram negative bacterium,and found to be ineffective for yeast tested,while the cyclised structures failed to exert any growth inhibitory effects on the micro-organisms tested.