Ultrasound-assisted conversion of tannic acid to gallic acid as a strategy to obtain value-added products

In this work, ultrasound was applied for the conversion of tannic acid into gallic acid using only diluted H₂O₂ as reagent. Experiments were carried out using several types of ultrasonic horns operating at 20 kHz (VC750W processor). The following experimental conditions were evaluated: H₂O₂ concentration (0.2 to 8.5 mol L⁻¹), horn type (10 to 25 mm of diameter), ultrasound amplitude (20 to 70%), sonication time (10 to 45 min), tannic acid concentration (170 to 1360 mg L⁻¹), and reaction temperature (50 to 90 °C). Gallic acid production was monitored with ultra-performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ToF-MS). The isolated gallic acid was confirmed with nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H and ¹³C NMR). It is important to emphasize that this study was developed as a proof of concept to demonstrate the potential of ultrasound for tannic acid conversion into gallic acid using just diluted H₂O₂. Under selected conditions gallic acid production yield was 128 ± 4 mg g⁻¹ of initial tannic acid (using 170 mg L⁻¹ of tannic acid as starting material). Reaction time was set as 30 min, which was carried out using 1 mol L⁻¹ H₂O₂ and ultrasound amplitude of 50% at 90 °C. At silent conditions (mechanical stirring, from 100 to 1000 rpm), gallic acid production was halved (less than 78 ± 4 mg g⁻¹ of initial tannic acid).