Eastman Chemical Company

Brendan William Boyd

Bhaskar Krishna Arumugam

Nick Allen Collins

Steven Thomas Perri

Michael R Cushman

Chester Wayne Sink

Larry Wayne Blair

Jeffery Earl Grant Powell

David Anthony Larkin

Disclosed is a process for dewatering an organic compound other than a carboxylic acid using a simulated moving bed (SMB) containing a solid with different absorptivities for water and the organic compound. The organic compound is fed into the SMB as an aqueous solution and desorbed with a desorbent other than water. The process is particularly useful for dewatering organic compounds produced by fermentation, biomass extraction, biocatalytic, and enzymatic processes.

Dewatering process

The present invention comprises the use of sulfite additives to reduce discoloration of L-ascorbic acid produced from acid or aqueous solutions of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid. In one aspect, the present invention comprises a continuous process for producing L-ascorbic acid from an aqueous solution of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid. The use of sulfite additives reduces product stream color and improves product recovery by binding to high molecular weight reaction by-products. In a continuous process, the reaction stream is separated from residual sulfite and sulfite-bound by-products to produce a product stream enriched in aqueous ascorbic acid for recovery, and an enriched 2-keto-L-gulonic acid stream which is recycled to the reactor. The in situ use of sulfite additives during the reaction increases the overall yield of L-ascorbic acid, with no loss in selectivity of the synthesis.

Process for producing ascorbic acid

Disclosed is a process wherein a solution of a carboxylic acid in a first solvent and an alcohol are fed to a simulated moving bed reactor (SMBR) containing a solid(s) to produce a first stream comprising a solution of an ester of the carboxylic acid and the alcohol and a second stream comprising the first solvent. The solid(s) present in the SMBR facilitates the esterification reaction and the separation of the first solvent from the carboxylic acid. The process is particularly valuable for the preparation of an alkanol solution of an alkyl 2-keto-L-gulonate ester (AKLG) from an aqueous fermentation broth containing dissolved 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (KLG) by feeding the fermentation broth and an alkanol to a simulated moving bed reactor which contains a solid acidic esterification catalyst to produce a stream comprising an alkanol solution of an ALKG. The alkanol solution of an ALKG may be used directly to convert the ALKG to ascorbic acid (Vitamin C).

Preparation of esters of carboxylic acids

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Johnson City, TN, United States of America

Brendan William Boyd