Recent advances in industrial carotenoid synthesis

Abstract

Symmetrical C40-carotenoids are efficiently produced by double Wittig olefination of the corrresponding C15-phosphonium salts with C10-dialdehyde. Industrial syntheses of lycopene-, astaxanthin-, and (3R,3'R)-zeaxanthin-C15-phosphonium salts are discussed. An efficient route to a monoprotected C10-dialdehyde for the synthesis of unsymmetrical C40-carotenoids is presented. Primary polyene allyl alcohols can be converted to the corresponding aldehydes by "TEMPO" oxidation. A high-yield synthesis of meso-zeaxanthin as an example for syntheses of unsymmetrical carotenoids is presented.