Synthesis of vitamin E succinate catalyzed by nano-SiO2 immobilized DMAP derivative in mixed solvent system

Catalytic efficiency in synthesis of vitamin E succinate was dramatically increased via the preparation of robust catalyst and the improvement of reaction system. 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) was covalently immobilized on nano-SiO2 to avoid the catalyst contamination of the product and permit the easy recycling of DMAP. Then, a hexane-acetone mixed solvent system was firstly introduced to replace the traditional single-solvent system, which was employed to improve the activity of immobilized DMAP derivative and the substrate solubility of the reaction system. The highest vitamin E succinate yield of 94% was achieved. In addition, the recyclability and stability of the immobilized DMAP derivative was excellent, the yield of vitamin E succinate had no obvious loss and remained 90% after recycling 20 times. The excellent results make this technology be a promising candidate for the industrial production of vitamin E succinate.