the composition of the present invention results from a highly controlled isomerization process , under nonaqueous conditions ( propylene glycol solvent for free fatty acid , and monohydric alcohol for the corresponding esters ), and from using the preferred starting material of sunflower or safflower oil . this composition has not heretofore been obtained , for application to an industrial scale , because the conventional processes historically produce conjugated linoleic acids for entirely different purposes , namely , as drying oils in the paint industry . also , there has not been an appreciation of the implications of the isomer content of the final product , because the analytical methods for characterizing the fatty acids has not been widely available . in the older isomerization processes for the free acid , some of which are still in use in more modern format , production of the conjugated fatty acids was carried out in aqueous alkali ( generally naoh ) at high temperatures in excess of 200 degrees c . and usually at superatmospheric pressures . for example , u . s . pat . no . 2 , 350 , 583 ( bradley ) discloses an aqueous alkali process utilizing treated soaps in which both conjugation and polymerization occurred under rather harsh conditions at 200 to 250 degrees c . for a period of several hours . the fractions of drying oil , starting with linseed oil , were obtained by distillation . see also br . patent no . 558 , 881 for a very similar process . in a variation of the process , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 381 , 264 teaches a process where a low water content reaction zone ( 0 . 5 % water ) contains stoichiometric base in the presence of so 2 to obtain conjugation of the double bonds of various polyunsaturated fatty acids . the aqueous alkali process was adapted in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 164 , 505 to a continuous flow process in which an alkali metal hydroxide and water are continuously charged in a flow zone maintained at between 200 and 370 degrees c . at these temperatures , the time of reaction should be greatly foreshortened , but there is relatively little control over the isomerization . at the higher end of the temperature range , one would predict almost complete conversion to double trans species . methods of producing cla using various nonaqueous solvents and catalysts have been described in the literature . burr ( u . s . pat . no . 2 , 242 , 230 ) discloses the use of solvents such as methanol , butanol , ethanol and glycol in combination with various catalysts . these reaction parameters are summarized in table 1 . with the exception of glycol , the reactions were conducted either under reflux conditions or in sealed tubes . these reaction conditions result in imprecise control of two of the important reactions parameters identified by the inventors — temperature and pressure . imprecise control of these reactions parameters is likely to lead to less than complete conjugation and the formation of undesirable isomers . likewise , baltes et al ., ( u . s . pat . no . 3 , 162 , 658 ) disclose the use of nonaqueous solvents and various metallic bases as catalysts for the conjugation of fatty acids . the various reaction parameters of the methods described by baltes et al . are summarized in table 2 . baltes et al . also disclose the use various low boiling point solvents . as most of these reactions were conducted at temperatures above the boiling point of the solvent employed , it is apparent that the reactions were conducted under pressure , which is an independent factor influencing the formation of octadecadienoic acid isomers . the product derived from these reactions will thus contain undesirable isomers . the cla of the present invention lacks isomers such as the 8 , 10 isomer , the 11 , 13 isomer , and the various trans - trans isomers . this composition was produced by a tightly controlled nonaqueous alkali isomerization process . sunflower oil or safflower oil are reacted at an ambient pressure under an inert gas atmosphere with an excess of alkali in a high - boiling point solvent , namely propylene glycol at a temperature below the boiling point of the solvent . these reaction conditions allow for precise control of the temperature ( and constant ambient pressure ) of the conjugation process . preferably the alkali is an inorganic alkali such as potassium hydroxide , cesium hydroxide , cesium carbonate or an organic alkali such as tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide . the catalyst is preferably provided in a molar excess as compared to the fatty acid content of oil . the solvent is propylene glycol . preferably , the reaction is conducted within a temperature range 130 to 165 ° c ., most preferably at about 150 ° c . the time of the reaction may vary , however , there is an increased likelihood of the formation of undesirable isomers when the reaction is conducted for long periods of time . a relatively short reaction time of 2 . 0 to 6 . 5 hours has proved satisfactory for excellent yields . the essential oils for conjugation are sunflower and safflower oil . as compared to soybean oil , these oils have lower concentrations of undesirable components such as phosphatides and sterols . these undesirable components may contribute to the formation of gums which foul the conjugation equipment and other undesirable polymers . various properties of these oils are summarized in tables 3 , 4 , and 5 . in the esterification of fatty acids to the alkyl esters , methanol or ethanol are preferred , although other branched or straight chain monohydric alcohols may be used . the longer the aliphatic chain of the alkyl group , the more lipid compatible the material becomes . also the viscosity tends to increase . for different types of feed or food , whose consistency varies , product of varying viscosity can be used to obtain the desired flow or compounding characteristics without affecting the therapeutic or nutritional properties arising from the cla moieties . the theory and practice of esterification are conventional . a basic explanation of the most common methods is set forth in the mccraw - hill encyclopedia of science & amp ; technology , mcgraw - hill book co ., new york : 1996 ( 5th ed .). the animal and human body has a variety of esterases , so that the cla - ester is cleaved to release the free fatty acids readily . tissue uptake may have a different kinetics depending on the tissue involved and the benefit sought . in the isomerization step , it was found that alcoholate catalysis produced a much superior product than aqueous alkali mediated isomerization . the latter process always produced undesirable isomers even under mild reaction conditions . the milder conditions do give lower amounts of unwanted isomers , but at the great expense of yield , as shown in the examples . in most systems the appearance of the c9 , t11 and t10 , c12 isomers dominates and they are formed in roughly equimolar amounts . it has not heretofore been possible to control the isomerization of the one isomer to the exclusion of the other . while it is desirable to increase the percentage of one or the other isomer ( depending on the physiological effect to be achieved ), at present this must largely be carried out by adding an enriched source of the desired isomer . crude sunflower or safflower oil is the essential fatty acid source for producing cla . sunflower oil contains a high amount of linoleic acid ( about 65 % on average ). safflower oil typically contains even higher amounts ( greater than 70 %). preferably , a hexane extract of crude , non - degummed oil is the starting substrate for cfap production . this extract is commercially available and is the same quality as the oil used as the starting point for edible products . the ability to use raw sunflower or safflower oil as the starting substrate provides an important advantage because it is less expensive than refined sunflower oil . in the process of the present invention , a novel triacylglycerol is synthesized comprising the novel cla isomer mixture disclosed hereinafter for non - aqueous isomerization of linoleic acid from sunflower and / or safflower oils . the pure triacylglycerols highly enriched for cla ( 90 - 96 percent ) may be confirmed by h nmr . esterification proceeds using immobilized candida antarctica lipase . preferably , the cla will contain at least 40 and upwardly 45 - 48 percent of c9 , t11 - octadecadienoic and t10 , c12 - octadecadienoic acids , and mixtures thereof . there will be less than one percent esters 8 , 10 ; 11 , 13 ; and trans , trans isomers or less than five percent in the aggregate . the resultant triacylglycerol is not purified further to remove all levels of phosphatidyl and sterol residues . but those levels remaining from isomerization of sunflower and safflower oils will be adequate for commercial applications involving safe , edible products in feed and food . the immobilized candida antarctica lipase is to be employed in a manner similar to that described for n - 3 type polyunsaturated fatty acids , in harraldson et al . the esterification reaction is conducted at 50 °- 75 ° c ., preferably 65 ° c ., in the absence of any solvent and a vacuum employed in order to remove the co - produced water or alcohols ( from esters ) upon formation . this shifts the triacylglycerol production to completion and ensures a highly pure product virtually free of any mono - and diacylglycerols in essentially quantitative yields . stoichiometric amounts of free fatty acids may be used , i . e . 3 molar equivalents as based on glycerol or 1 molar equivalent as based on number of mol equivalents of hydroxyl groups present in the glycerol moiety . only 10 % dosage of lipase as based on total weight of substrates is needed , which can be used a number of times . this is very important from the productivity point of view . all this , together with the fact that no solvent is required , renders this process a high feasibility from the scaling - up and industrialization point of view , since the cut in volume and bulkiness is enormous . also , a slight excess (& lt ; 5 / 5 ) of free fatty acids may be used in order to speed up the reaction toward the end and ensure a completion of the reaction . the direct esterification reaction is demonstrated in scheme 1 . wherein r is hydrogen or an alkyl radical such as an ethyl , methyl , butyl , isopropyl , isobutyl or the like . at the initiation of the reaction , the 1 - or 3 - mono - acyglyeride is formed first , followed by the 1 , 3 diacylglyeride , and finally the triglyceride at the more extended reaction times . the mono - and diacylglyerides are useful intermediates in that they manifest biological activity , but have greater soluability in aqueous cellular environments and can participate in alternative molecular synthetic pathways such as synthesis of phospholipids or other functional lipids . in contrast , triglycerides are frequently deposited intact in cell membranes or storage vesicles . thus , the administration of cla in mono -, di - or triglycerol form rather than free fatty acid or ester , may influence the mode and distribution of uptake , metabolic rate and structural or physiological role of the cla component . general . h nuclear magnetic resonance spectra were recorded on a bruker ac 250 nmr spectrometer in deuterated chloroform as a solvent . hplc separations were carried out by a preplc ™ system 500a instrument from waters using the preppak ® 500 / silica cartridge column from millipore , eluting with 10 % diethyl ether in petroleum ether . analytical glc was conducted on a perkin - elmer 8140 gas chromatograph according to a previously described procedure , as described in haraldsson , et al ., acta chem scanned 45 : 723 ( 1991 ). the immobilized candida antarctica lipase was provided by novo nordisk in denmark as novozyme ™. it was used directly as provided in the esterification experiments . analytical grade diethyl ether purchased from merck was used without any purification , but synthetic grade n - hexane also from merck was freshly distilled prior to use in extractions and hplc chromatography . glycerol ( 99 %) was purchased from sigma and aldrich chemical company and used without further purification . the cla concentrate was provided by natural lipids in norway as free fatty acids as tonalin ™. its purity was confirmed by analytical glc and high - field nmr spectroscopy which revealed some glyceride impurities . the cla concentrate was found to contain 43 . 3 % 9 - cis , 11 - trans - linoleic acid , 44 . 5 % 10 - trans , 12 - cis - linoleic acid , 5 . 4 % of other cla isomers , 5 . 6 % oleic acid and 0 . 6 % each of palmitic and stearic acid as determined by glc at the science institute . immobilized candida antarctica lipase ( 1 . 25 g ) was added to a mixture of glycerol ( 1 . 22 g . 13 . 3 mmol ) and cla as free fatty acid ( m . wt . 280 . 3 g / mol ; 11 . 6 g , 41 . 5 mmol ). the mixture was gently stirred on a magnetic stirrer hot plate at 65 ° c . under continuous vacuum of 0 . 01 - 0 . 5 torr . the volatile water produced during the progress of the reaction was continuously condensed into liquid nitrogen cooled traps . after 48 h the reaction was discontinued , n - hexane added and the enzyme separated off by filtration . the organic phase was treated with an alkaline aqueous solution of sodium carbonate to remove excessive free fatty acids ( when required ). the organic solvent ( after drying over anhydrous magnesium sulfate when appropriate ) was removed in vacuo on a rotary evaporator followed by high - vacuum treatment to afford the virtually pure product as a slightly yellowish oil ( 10 . 9 g ; average m . wt . 878 . 6 g / mol ; 93 % yield ). when stoichiometric amounts of free fatty acids were used , titration by standardized sodium hydroxide was applied to determine the free fatty acid content of the crude reaction product ( less than 1 % free fatty acid content as based on number of mol of ester groups , corresponding to at least 99 % incorporation , which is equivalent to the minimum of 97 % triglyceride content ). the crude product was directly introduced into hpcl eluting with 10 % diethylether in n - hexane to afford 100 % pure triglyceride as a colourless oil . 250 mhz 1h nmr ( cdc13 ) 8 ( ppm ) 6 . 35 − 6 . 23 ( 3h , ddt , jtrans = 15 . 0 hz , j = 10 . 9 hz , jallyl = 1 . 3 , ═ chch ═ ch ), 5 . 98 − 5 . 90 ( 3h , dd , icis = 10 . 9 , j = 10 . 9 , — ch ═ chch ═), 5 . 71 − 5 . 59 ( 3h , dtd , jtrans = 15 . 0 hz , j = 6 . 9 hz , j = 6 . 9 hz , j = 2 . 2 hz , ═ ch ═ chch2 -), 5 . 35 − 5 . 26 ( 4h , m , ═ ch2ch ═ ch — and — ch2c — ich2 -), 4 . 33 − 4 . 26 ( 2h , dd , jgem = 11 . 9 hz , j = 4 . 3 , — ch2chch2 -), 4 . 18 − 4 . 10 2h , dd , jgem = 1 . 8 hz , j = 6 . 0 , — ch2chch2 -), 2 . 37 − 2 . 31 ( 6h , t , j = 7 . 4 h2 , — ch2coor ), 2 . 19 − 2 . 05 ( 12h , m , — ch2ch ═ ch —), 1 . 66 − 1 . 60 ( 6h , qu ., j = hz , — ch2ch2coor ), 1 . 43 − 1 . 30 ( 18h , m , — ch2 -), 0 . 91 − 0 . 86 ( 9h , t , j = 6 . 7 hz , — ch3 ). 13c - nmr ( cdc13 ): 8 ( ppm ) 173 . 2 , 172 . 8 , 134 . 6 , 130 . 0 , 128 . 6 , 125 . 5 , 68 . 8 , 62 . 0 , 34 . 0 , 32 . 9 , 31 . 6 , 29 . 6 − 28 . 9 ( 6c ), 27 . 6 , 24 . 8 , 22 . 5 , 14 . 1 . in order to monitor the progress of the reaction and provide more details about the composition of individual glycerides during the reaction , samples were collected regularly as the reaction proceeded . they were analyzed by hnmr spectroscopy and provided a good insight into the composition of mono -, di - and triacylglycerols during the progress of the reaction . the results are demonstrated in table 6 below . as can be noticed from the table , 1 , 3 - diacylglycerols dominated the reaction mixture during the first two hours of the reaction . after 4 hours triacylglycerols took over and had reached 98 % composition after 22 hours and 100 % after 48 hours . as would be expected 1 , 2 - diacylglycerols reached considerably lower levels than the 1 , 3 - diacylglycerols . 1 - monoacylglycerols reached a maximum during the first hour of the reaction , but 2 - monoacylglycerols were not detected throughout the reaction . the results showing the kinetics are plotted in fig1 .
novel acylglycerides are disclosed comprising mono -, di - and triacylglycerides characterized by predominantly containing the conjugated linoleic acids t9 , c11 - and c10 , t12 octadecadienoic acids to the exclusion of 11 , 13 -, 8 , 10 - and trans , trans isomers .