Methyl salicylate
![Skeletal formula](/Images/godic/202502/14/Methyl_salicylate.svg4955.png")
![Sample of a clear liquid](/Images/godic/202502/14/Sample_of_methyl_salicylate4955.jpg")
![Wintergreen plants (Gaultheria procumbens)](/Images/godic/202502/14/Gaultheria_procumbens4955.JPG")
![Chick embryo that was treated with methylene blue to stain the skeleton, then cleansed with 2 or 3 ethanol washes, and treated with methyl salicylate to make the surrounding tissues transparent](/Images/godic/202502/14/Chick_embryo_in_methyl_salicylate4955.jpg")
Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen or wintergreen oil) is an organic ester naturally produced by many species of plants, particularly wintergreens. It is also synthetically produced, used as a fragrance, in foods and beverages, and in liniments.
The compound methyl salicylate was first isolated (from the plant Gaultheria procumbens) in 1843 by the French chemist Auguste André Thomas Cahours (1813–1891), who identified it as an ester of salicylic acid and methanol.