Method of preparing powdered, free-flowing tocopheryl succinate

Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series – Organic compounds – Heterocyclic carbon compounds containing a hetero ring...

Patent

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C07D31172

Patent

active

048701963

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a method of preparing powdered, free-flowing tocopheryl succinate having a high bulk density and wherein tocopheryl succinate is melted and the melt is sprayed so as to form droplets which are then cooled.
Tocopheryl succinate, which is a vitamin E, melts at 73.degree.-78.degree. C. It is a white solid material which at room temperature is greasy and tacky and which has poor flow properties. Furthermore, the commercially available tocopheryl succinate ordinarily has a broad particle size distribution with many fine particles which causes the powder to be cohesive and to form lumps. Therefore, it is difficult to formulate it into capsules and tablets having an exact content of the active compound in the methods normally employed for the formulation of vitamin preparations.
A number of attempts have been made to prepare free-flowing tocopheryl succinate with and without additives.
A prior art method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,457. In this method tocopheryl succinate is heated to melt it, i.e., to about 85.degree. C., and the melt is poured into a shallow pan so as to form a layer having a thickness of between 0.3 and 2.5 cm, after which the melt is allowed to harden and crystallize over a period of 12-24 hours. The resulting mass is then ground at a low temperature, preferably at a temperature of about -80.degree. C. The prior art method is not suitable for commercial production because of the requirement of grinding at a very low temperature.
British Patent Specification No. 1,007,161 discloses another method of preparing free-flowing, powdered tocopheryl succinate having a high bulk density. In the method tocopheryl succinate is melted and the melt is dispersed in an aqueous solution containing a thickening agent in the form of methyl cellulose, and subsequently the dispersion formed is quickly cooled so as to cause the tocopheryl succinate to crystallize to form fine particles which are separated and dried.
A product thus prepared has a relatively broad particle size distribution which causes problems in the treatment of the product in known tabletting machines. Furthermore, the use of methyl cellulose as thickening agent results in a certain tackiness which imparts to the product a tendency to, adhere to e.g., parts of the tabletting machine.
Attempts to prepare tocopheryl succinate in the form of particles coated with other agents that the ones described above have not produced satisfactory results as these attempts have resulted in the reduction of the tocopheryl succinate content of the final product. This is undesirable because of the subsequent preparation of high-dosed capsules and tablets since for such use it is desirable that the starting material contains as much tocopheryl succinate as possible and that it also has a high bulk density.
The object of the invention is to provide free-flowing, powdered tocopheryl succinate which meets these requirements.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is obtained by the method according to the invention, which method is characterized in forming a melt of tocopheryl succinate and wax, spraying the melt in an spraying zone containing a cloud of a powdered agent in the form of fine tocopheryl succinate particles and an additional powdering agent, maintaining the resulting product in a fluidized state by supplying cooling air thereto for a sufficiently long period of time for the tocopheryl succinate particles to harden, separating the product formed into a product fraction and at least one fine fraction, and recycling the fine fraction to the spraying zone.
The invention is based on the discovery that by using fine tocopheryl succinate particles as powdering agent in the spraying of a tocopheryl succinate melt it is sufficient to use a relatively small amount of an additional powdering agent to obtain a final product having a high content of pure tocopheryl succinate. By separating the fine fraction from the hardened product the tendency displayed by the final product to act as a cohesive power and to form lumps is consider

REFERENCES:
patent: 2358046 (1944-09-01), Baxter et al.
patent: 3551457 (1970-12-01), Ross
patent: 4002706 (1977-01-01), Pretorius

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Method of preparing powdered, free-flowing tocopheryl succinate does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Method of preparing powdered, free-flowing tocopheryl succinate, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of preparing powdered, free-flowing tocopheryl succinate will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-188555

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.