Conversion of Non-α-Tocopherols to α-Tocopherol in a Fixed Bed Reactor
摘要
Since α-tocopherol has special biological and nutritional activities, it is important to convert non-α-tocopherols to α-tocopherol. This paper focuses on the effects of residence time, pressure, temperature and the mass ratio of formaldehyde to tocopherols on the content of α-tocopherol, the conversion of non-α-tocopherols, the selectivity and yield of α-tocopherol in a fixed-bed reactor. The reactor is made from φ12 (I.D.)×360mm stainless steel pipe. It is packed with a mixture of 5% Pd/C and cation exchange resin catalysts. Preliminary results indicated the suitable operation conditions are pressure 5.0 MPa, temperature 180℃, and mass ratio of formaldehyde to tocopherols 2.0. A product of more than 50% α-tocopherol content has been obtained by using 88.85% mixed tocopherols as raw material.