Hoffmann-la Roche Inc.

Roche Vitamins Inc.

Manfred W Breuninger

Dieter Schmidt

Kurt Steiner

Siegfried Schmitt

Manfred Froom

Karl-Heinz Bender

A process for the conversion of non-.alpha.-tocopherols into (.alpha.-tocopherol by the catalytic permethylation is disclosed. The methylating agent is methanol in the near-critical or super-critical pressure and temperature region or a mixture which is equivalent to methanol and which in particular consists of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide. The catalyst is a mixed oxide catalyst which is produced from hydrotalcites and which has at least copper and magnesium oxide as well as at least one oxide of a trivalent metal, e.g., aluminium oxide, iron(III) oxide, vanadium oxide, chromium oxide and/or gallium oxide. The product of this process has a very high content of .alpha.-tocopherol, which is the biologically most valuable tocopherol.

Process for permethylating non-.alpha.-tocopherols to produce

A process for the manufacture of 4H-imidazo�1,5-a!�1,4!benzodiazepine derivatives of formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is phenyl or mono- or disubstituted phenyl;

Process for the manufacture of 4H-imidazo�1,5-A!�1,4!benzodiazepines

Compounds of the general formula ##STR1## wherein two of the residues R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represent C.sub.10-30 -alkyl residues with at least 8 C-atoms in a straight chain, at least one of these residues being substituted by at least 2 C.sub.1-3 -alkyl residues and the sum of the C-atoms in the two residues being greater than 20; and the third residue is a residue --P(O)(O.sup.-)OR.sup.4 in which R.sup.4 represents a lower-alkyl or C.sub.5-7 -cycloalkyl residue which is substituted by a quaternary ammonium group or a C.sub.5-7 -cycloalkyl residue which contains a di-(lower-alkyl)-substituted nitrogen atom, are useful for the manufacture of colloidal solution systems. The compounds of formula I can be prepared starting from glycerol derivatives as described in more detail in the specification.

Glycerol ether phosphatides

The invention is concerned with a novel process for the manufacture of citral from an N-oxide.

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Freiburg, Germany

Manfred W Breuninger