Prepn of carotenoid cpds - by reacting retinyl sulphones with retinol esters

摘要

Carotenoid cpds. are prepd. by reacting Ret-SO2-R (I) (where Ret is an opt. substd. retinyl residue, and R is alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl or aralkyl) with Ret-X (where X is an anion) in the presence of a base, and desulphonating the product. In the prefd. process, a cpd. of formula (Ia): as reacted with an ester of retinol with an (in)organic acid, and the product treated with an alkali to give beta-carotene. Other prods. obtainable by this process include beta-carotene derivs., canthazanthine, isozeaxanthine, and cpds. of this type derived from oxoretinene, 4-hydroxyretinene, etc.