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US 5,703,252 AGranted
Recovery of Tocopherols
AssigneeHenkel Corporation
InventorsTracy K. Hunt, Joerg Schwarzer
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHenkel Corporation
InventorsTracy K. Hunt, Joerg Schwarzer
Estimating the term…
Starting from a mixture containing tocopherol, fats and/or fat derivatives, more particularly fatty acids, and optionally sterol and/or sterol derivatives, the free fatty acids present in the mixture are esterified with an alcohol and fatty glycerides are transesterified with an alcohol in the presence of a zinc oxide and/or zinc hydroxide catalyst. After the esterifications, the excess lower alcohol is distilled off from the reaction mixture. The transesterification catalyst and the glycerol present, if any, are removed and the fatty acid alkyl ester is distilled off from the mixture. Distillation of fatty acid alkyl esters can be accomplished with a packed column in sequence with a wiped film evaporator. The simultaneous recovery of tocopherol and sterol is possible. Tocopherols and sterols can be separated by the crystallization of sterols from a blend of organic solvents.
A process useful in the recovery of tocopherols from a tocopherol mixture comprised of fatty acids and tocopherols, said process comprising esterifying free fatty acids present in said tocopherol mixture and transesterifying fatty acid glyceride esters present in said tocopherol mixture by mixing said tocopherol mixture with a lower alcohol in the presence of a zinc catalyst selected from the group consisting of zinc oxide, zinc hydroxide, and mixtures thereof, to form a reaction mixture in a reaction vessel, the temperature of said reaction mixture being above the atmospheric boiling point of said alcohol and the pressure within said reaction vessel being sufficient to maintain at least a major proportion of said alcohol in a liquid phase.
The process of claim I wherein the amount of said lower alcohol is equal in mass to from about 50% to about 60% with respect to the mass of original tocopherol containing starting material.
A process useful in the recovery of tocopherols from a tocopherol mixture comprised of fatty acids and tocopherols, said process comprising esterifying free fatty acids present in said tocopherol mixture and transesterifying fatty acid glyceride esters present in said tocopherol mixture by mixing said tocopherol mixture with methanol in an amount of from about 20% to about 80% by weight of said tocopherol mixture, in the presence of a zinc catalyst selected from the group consisting of zinc oxide, zinc hydroxide, and mixtures thereof, in an amount of from about 0.005% to about 5% by weight of the tocopherol mixture, to form a reaction mixture in a reaction vessel, the temperature of said reaction mixture being above the atmospheric boiling point of methanol and the pressure within said reaction vessel being sufficient to maintain at least a major proportion of said alcohol in a liquid phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.