... that they brominated the 2 position of methylvanillin. That must somehow explain the bromination into that 2-slot. I know for sure plain vanilla vanillin, with its naked 4-hydroxyl showing, will brominate into the #5 position, with similarly high yields. I've wondered about this ever since you posted this pic elsewhere. But since I'm effectively without access to chem literature, I figured the only way I could find out, was to methylate (alkylate, preferably with an allyl or isopropyl group) some vanillin, and then watch where it brominates.
You need little teeny eyes, to see details like that. Like where a bromine atom sticks onto a benzene ring. If it's the methyl ether that switches the preferred ring bromination position from 5 to 2, a good guess is that other alkyl ethers might also perform this trick. Since I know nothing, I have to make a lot of guesses.
turning science fact into <<science fiction>>
