Procedures for preparing vanillin and vanillal alkanoates were developed.Vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, Ia) and its homolog, vanillal (4-hydroxy-3-ethoxybenzaldehyde, Ib) are widely used in food and perfume industries [133]. Vanillin can also be used as a synthetic precursor of biologically active substances [4,5]. However, new processes in food industry demand new aroma chemicals that would have vanilla smell but be more heat-resistant than vanillin and stable in a wide range of pH in the presence of enzymes. These requirements stimulate chemists to prepare new vanillin and vanillal derivatives; many of them appeared to exhibit stronger vanilla smell, compared to the initial compounds, with diverse tints.Here we report convenient synthetic routes to vanillin (IIa!IIm) and vanillal (IIIa!IIIg) esters. 2 j RO g g CHO OC(O)RÌ I a3m, III a3g 2 j RO g g CHO OC(O)RÌ I a3m, III a3g