Plenary Session, Plenary lecture
AL-004

SISF-SCS Senior Investigator Award Lecture 2017/II: Vitamins and Nutraceuticals from the Perspective of Process Research

T. Netscher1
1Research and Development, DSM Nutritional Products, P.O. Box 2676, 4002 Basel, Switzerland - thomas.netscher@dsm.com

The development of efficient, sustainable low-cost processes is the basis for providing high-quality products for daily life applications in human and animal nutrition1. The importance of chemical process research towards ecologically benign and competitively advantageous processes for the large-scale preparation of various vitamins, nutraceuticals and fine chemicals is highlighted.

Representative examples from the field of naturally occurring food supplements such as vitamin A (retinol, 1), vitamin E (tocopherols, e.g. 2)2-4, vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), d-(+)-biotin (vitamin H, 3)5, or ubiquinones (e.g. coenzyme Q10, 4) will be given, including contributions from collaborations with external partners. General trends include the shift from stoichiometric to catalytic protocols and from batch to continuous processes. In addition, the use of renewable (bio-based) raw materials as key building blocks for the production of vitamins is of growing importance.

[1] M. Eggersdorfer, D. Laudert, U. Létinois, T. McClymont, J. Medlock, T. Netscher, W. Bonrath, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 12960-12990; B. Wüstenberg, R.T. Stemmler, U. Létinois, W. Bonrath, M. Hugentobler, T. Netscher, Chimia 2011, 65, 420-428.
[2] T. Netscher, Vitamins and Hormones 2007, 76, 155-202; T. Netscher, Synthesis and production of vitamin E, in: Lipid Synthesis and Manufacture, F.D. Gunstone (Ed.), Sheffield Academic Press Ltd, Sheffield, UK, 1999, pp. 250-267.
[3] T. Netscher, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 14313-14315, and cit. literature.
[4] S. Bell, B. Wüstenberg, S. Kaiser, F. Menges, T. Netscher, A. Pfaltz, Science 2006, 311, 642-644; T. Netscher, M. Scalone, R. Schmid, in Asymmetric Catalysis on Industrial Scale, Eds. H.-U. Blaser, E. Schmidt (Eds.), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2004, pp. 71-89.
[5] W. Bonrath, R. Karge, T. Netscher, F. Roessler, F. Spindler, in Asymmetric Catalysis on Industrial Scale: Challenges, Approaches, and Solutions (2nd Ed.), H.-U. Blaser, H.-J. Federsel (Eds.), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2010, pp. 27-39; W. Bonrath, R. Karge, T. Netscher, F. Roessler, F. Spindler, Chimia 2009, 63, 265-269.