• Top library match: SODIUM BENZOATE #37733

• The library confidence is reported as low, with no meaningful similarity separation among top candidates.
• The top candidates include both aromatic carboxylates and long-chain aliphatic carboxylates, S-O the retrieval does not uniquely define the ring type or exact compound.
• No related-literature evidence independently confirms a benzoate assignment.
• It remains uncertain whether the ring is definitively aromatic or whether the sample is a different metal carboxylate that happens to share similar FTIR features.
• The counterion cannot be confirmed from these FTIR data alone.
• The present evidence does not securely distinguish SODIUM BENZOATE from other sodium or potassium carboxylates with ring-containing structures.

Recommended next steps: Check for the characteristic benzoate ring pattern by closely inspecting the 1600-1450 cm-1 and 900-675 cm-1 regions at higher spectral quality. Compare the separation and shape of the 1546 and 1425 cm-1 bands against authenticated spectra of sodium benzoate and other metal carboxylates. Use complementary analysis such as Raman, XRD, or MS to determine whether the organic group is aromatic and to help distinguish benzoate from aliphatic carboxylates. If sodium benzoate is specifically suspected, confirm with a reference standard measured under the same sampling conditions.