Patent ID: 8685132

Claim:
A composition comprising functionally enhanced organic molecules having enhanced or reduced number of one or more of functional groups selected from the group consisting of carbonyl, carboxyl, amidic, ester, phenolic, alcoholic, ketone and aldehyde groups and having molecular weight below 1000 Da, obtained by a process comprising: i) treating lignite with hydrogen peroxide to obtain oxidized lignite; ii) extracting the oxidized lignite with water to obtain a water extract; iii) ultrafiltering the water extract to separate a filtrate comprising the functionally enhanced organic molecules of molecular weight below 1000 Da from a retentate, to obtain an aqueous solution of functionally enhanced organic molecules having enhanced or reduced number of one or more of functional groups selected from a group consisting of carbonyl, carboxyl, amidic, ester, phenolic, alcoholic, ketone and aldehyde groups and having molecular weight below 1000 Da.