Process for preparing 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyric acid (HMB) and salts thereof
AssigneeEvonik Operations GmbH
InventorsTimo Stahl, Axel Ronneburg, Imad Moussallem, Juliette Halli, Petra Picha
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Abstract
The present invention pertains to a process for preparing 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyric acid (HMB) or a salt thereof, the method comprising (a) reacting isobutylene oxide with cyanide in order to obtain 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyronitrile, and (b) hydrolyzing the 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyronitrile obtained in step (a) in order to obtain HMB, wherein hydrolysis step (b) is performed using either at least one nitrilase enzyme or, alternatively, using a combination of enzymes, said combination comprising at least one nitrile hydratase and at least one amidase.
Claims20
A process for preparing 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyric acid (HMB) or a salt thereof, comprising:
- (a) reacting isobutylene oxide with cyanide in order to obtain 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyronitrile;
- and
- (b) hydrolyzing the 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyronitrile obtained in step (a) to obtain HMB;
- wherein hydrolysis step (b) is performed using either at least one nitrilase enzyme or, alternatively, using a combination of enzymes, said combination comprising at least one nitrile hydratase and at least one amidase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.