SWEETENER COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING ASPARTAME AND ASPARTAME DERIVATIVE

摘要

An excellent sweetener composition comprising aspartame (APM)and N-[N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-L-.alpha.-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine methyl ester(APMderivative) and being similar to sucrose in tasting properties, can be easily,uniformly and efficiently produced at a high yield and a high purity. Theprocessfor producing the N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-APM (APM derivative) by the reductivealkylation of APM with 3,3-dimethylbutylaidehyde, is comprising:Producing the APM derivative from a portion of the APM existing in a reactionsolution by using the 3,3-dimethylbutylaldehyde in an amount at mostequimolar to the APM in presence of a reducing agent in a reaction solution,then separating the reducing agent from the reaction solution, and effectingcrystallization followed by the separation of the crystals thus obtained.