Discerning Chemical Relatives: Salicyl salicylate and Methyl salicylate [closed]








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Oil of wintergreen or methyl salicylate is found in *Gaultheria procumbens*. The molecular similarity to salicylic acid strikes me as obvious. The hydrogen is replaced by a methyl group. But am I jumping to conclusion I wonder. I've seen plenty of molecules which are said to have the same structure, but fail to see it because my knowledge of chemistry is limited. How do chemists define structural similarity in molecules?


