Patent ID: 9662286
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: A23L,A61K,A61P,A61Q,C07C

Claim:
1. A method for preparing a composition consisting essentially of menthol and menthyl lactate (ML) and which composition is liquid at ambient conditions, the method comprising: a) partially esterifying menthol with lactic acid in a non-aqueous solvent to obtain a mixture of menthol, lactic acid menthyl ester, and higher lactic acid menthyl esters; whereby menthol in a proportion of 15 to 60% wt/wt, based on the originally added amount of menthol, is not esterified; b) reacting the mixture obtained in step a) in order to hydrolyze said higher lactic acid menthyl esters; and isolating from the reaction mixture of step b) at least one liquid composition consisting essentially of menthol and menthyl lactate, wherein the concentration of menthol in the at least one liquid composition is at least 30% wt/wt;