Whilst attempting to create salicylic acid/2-hydroxybenzioc acid, one of our experiments produced a compound with a melting point of over $300^\circ\mathrm{C}$ ( as high as the machine would go) and the IR absorption spectra attached. Can anyone help us identify the compound we have produced?
We used:
- $4 \,\mathrm{g}$ of oil of wintergreen
- $100 \,\mathrm{mL}$ of $2 \,\mathrm{M}$ aqueous sodium hydroxide solution
- Sulfuric acid
The experiment was left for two weeks at which point the crystal pictured had formed.