Process for recovering unreacted sucrose from reaction solution of fatty acid sucrose ester

Claim 1

IN THE PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF SUCROSE FROM A REACTION SOLUTION CONTAINING SUCROSE ESTER, FREE SUCROSE, AN ALKALINE CATALYST AND A SOLVENT, AND PREPARED BY THE REACTION OF SUCROSE WITH METHYL-FATTY-ACID ESTERS CONTAINING 6 TO 30 CARBON ATOMS IN THE FATTY ACID MOIETY IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATAYLST IN DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE, AT A TEMPERATURE OF 60-120*C., IN A VACUUM WHILE, WITH THE PROGRESSION OF THE REACTION, DISTILLING OUT THE METHYL ALCOHOL AND DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING MIXING THE SAID REACTION SOLUTION WITH TOLUENE IN A QUANTITY FROM BETWEEN 20-95% BY WEIGHT BASED ON THE RESULTING DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE-TOLUENE MIXED SOLVENT AT A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 80-85*C., THE AMOUNT OF TOLUENE BEING SUFFICIENT TO RENDER THE SUCROSE SUBSTANTIALLY INSOLUBLE IN THE SAID REACTION, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SUFFICING TO DISSOLVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF SUCROSE ESTER IN SAID REACTION SOLUTION; THEREBY CAUSING CRYSTALLIZATION OF THE SUCROSE, COOLING THE MIXTURE TO ABOUT 30*C., AND SEPARATING THE SUCROSE FROM THE MIXTURE BY ORDINARY SEPARATION METHOD.