Patent ID: 8173826
Filing Date: 2012-05-08
Classification: C11B,C11C,Y02P

Abstract:
1. A method for treating an initial lipid mixture, wherein said initial lipid mixture comprises lipids of varying degrees of unsaturation in their aliphatic chains and has a corresponding average unsaturation number, and wherein said method comprises the steps of: a) preparing a solution of an Ag(I) salt in an ionic liquid to form a Ag(I) salt solution; b) combining the Ag(I) salt solution with a first organic solvent and the initial lipid mixture to form an extraction mixture comprising two primary phases, wherein the Ag(I) salt solution provides for a first primary phase and the first organic solvent provides for a second primary phase; c) inducing the lipids in the extraction mixture to partition between the two primary phases, wherein a portion of the lipids contained therein gravitate to the first primary phase in such a way as to yield a first extracted phase comprising lipids having a net increase in their average unsaturation number relative to that of the initial mixture of lipids, and wherein another portion of lipids gravitate to the second primary phase in such a way as to yield a second extracted phase comprising lipids having a net decrease in their average unsaturation number relative to that of the initial mixture of lipids; d) separating the first extracted phase from the second extracted phase to yield a first extracted mixture and a second extracted mixture; and e) removing the lipids from the first extracted mixture to yield a first lipid product enriched in unsaturated lipids.