Description of the lab: Cinnamaldehyde was separated from a solution of water and cinnamon using steam distillation. The distillate was extracted with dichloromethane. The solution was dried over sodium sulfate to remove any remaining aqueous molecules and filtered through a Pasteur filter pipet to separate the solution and solid product. The solution was vacuum filtered to evaporate the organic solvent, leaving a pure cinnamaldehyde product. The question is: Most student IR spectra evidence a large O-H stretch on their spectra…regardless of whether they isolated eugenol or cinnamaldehyde. Hmm?…explain. Solution Eugenol have an OH group which will not react with dichloromethane but the aldehyde group reacts with dichloromethane and leaves a hydroxyl (OH) group..