Glycerol → Glyceryl Monobehenate

Participants

Reaction Steps

The preferred source of monoglycerides for preparing the reduced calorie fats is at least about 90%, and is preferably at least about 95%, pure monobehenin. This preferred monoglyceride can be obtained by hydrolysis of substantially completely hydrogenated (i.e., I.V. about 10 or less) high erucic acid rapeseed oil, thermal distillation of the resulting fatty acid mixture to provide a behenic fatty acid-enriched fraction, and then esterification of glycerol with this behenic acid-enriched fraction to provide a crude mixture of monoglycerides. This synthesis route minimizes the formation of base catalyzed by-products such as difatty ketones or diglycerols. This crude monoglyceride mixture can be subsequently purified by molecular distillation, solvent (e.g., ethyl alcohol) crystallization, liquid/liquid extraction or adsorption on a weak acid ion exchange resin to yield a source of monoglycerides having the desired purity of monobehenin.

Provenance & Evidence