Study on the preparation of l-α-glycerophosphocholine catalyzed by low boiling point organic amines

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The transesterification of phosphatidylcholine (PC for short) catalyzed by 12 kinds of low boiling point amines was examined under mild conditions to prepare l-α-glycerophosphocholine (GPC for short). The amines were confirmed as effective catalysts for GPC production, and the process using this kind of catalyst would be much simpler, since the recovery of the catalysts can be combined with the recovery of methanol by distillation. Three kinds of amines with boiling points lower than 50 °C and higher activities were applied to produce GPC, the yield of GPC could reach 90 % with a catalyst content of 2.4 %. The mechanism of the methanolysis catalyzed by the primary amine was proposed and the experimental data fit the equation model well. Isopropylamine showed better activity with higher yield of GPC and lower activation energy than others. Gas Chromatography and 1H NMR were used to analyze the product, which indicated that the product had high purity and there was no reaction between the catalyst and other materials. The catalyst could get similar effect to the fresh after repeated uses.