Process for purifying astaxanthin and canthaxanthin

US10017466B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• BASF SE

Inventors

• Bernd Schafer · Kipfenberg, DE
• Wolfgang Siegel · Schifferstadt, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 1, 2015
• Grant date: Jul 10, 2018
• Expiry date: Oct 1, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C07C2601/16
• WIPO field: Basic materials chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for purifying the xanthophylls astaxanthin and canthaxanthin.The process comprises suspending the xanthophyll in an organic solvent or solvent mixture, treating the suspension of the xanthophyll in the organic solvent or solvent mixture at elevated temperature, and subsequent separation off of the xanthophyll from the solvent by a solid-liquid separation, wherein the organic solvent is selected from ketones of the general formula (I) and mixtures of ketones of the general formula (I) where R1 is C1-C4 alkyl and R2 is selected from C1-C6 alkyl, C3-C8 cycloalkyl, phenyl and benzyl, wherein the phenyl rings in the two last-mentioned radicals are unsubstituted or can have 1 or 2 methyl groups, or R1 and R2 together are linear C4-C6 alkylene, which can bear 1, 2 or 3 methyl groups as substituents.