Process for the production of xylitol
AssigneeCerestar Holding B.V.
InventorsRoland Herwig Freidrich Beck, Myriam Elseviers, Sonia Marianne Jeannine Coomans
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Abstract
The present invention discloses a method of producing a pentitol from a hexaldonic acid. The hexaldonic acid is decarboxylated for example in the presence of sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide. After hydrogenation and optionally isomerisation the desired pentitol, which is obtained in high yield, can be purified. The present invention starts from gluconic acid in free or salt form or as a lactone, xylitol is the final product.
Claims7
A method of producing xylitol from gluconic acid wherein the acid is in free form or in the form of a salt or the corresponding lactone which comprises the following steps
- a. decarboxylating the gluconic acid to give an intermediate consisting mainly of arabinose,
- b. hydrogenating the arabinose in the presence of a catalyst to give the corresponding pentitol, arabinitol,
- c. catalytically isomerizing the arabinitol to a xylitol-containing pentitol mixture,
- d. separating xylitol from the pentitol mixture to obtain a residual pentitol mixture, and
- e. optionally recycling of the residual pentitol mixture to step (c).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.