Appeal No. 2006-2369 Page 2
Application No. 10/169,618
“In the search for alternative or improved surfactants, also monomeric and
dimeric sugars such as glucose and sucrose (saccharose) have been used as starting
material for the synthesis of non-ionic derivatives with tensio-active properties.” Id.
“The synthesis of several sucrose N-n-alkyl urethanes and their tensio-active properties
[has] been disclosed” in the prior art. Id. “The urethanes are prepared by reacting
sucrose with the corresponding n-alkyl isocyanate . . . .” Id. Although “no mention is
made of possible tensio-active properties” of urethane derivatives of polysaccharides in
the prior art, a number of references disclose the preparation of urethane derivatives of
a variety of polysaccharides. Page 2, lines 16-33.
The specification discloses that urethane derivatives of glucosides possess
“tensio-active,” or surfactant, properties. Page 3. Of particular interest are glucoside
alkyl urethane derivatives wherein the glucoside is a hydrolysate of the polysaccharide
starch. Id.
Starch hydrolysates are prepared by converting starch, a polymer of glucose, into
smaller molecules by cleaving the bonds between the glucose monomers. Page 4. The
bonds between the glucose monomers can be cleaved by methods including acid
hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, thermal treatment or shearing. Id. “Starch
hydrolysates are polydisperse mixtures” composed of individual glucose molecules,
oligomeric chains of two to ten covalently joined glucose molecules, and polymeric
chains of more than ten glucose monomers. Id. “Starch hydrolysates are well known in
the art.” Id.
The term “dextrose equivalent,” or “D.E.,” describes the degree to which the
bonds between the glucose subunits of a starch molecule have been cleaved. Page 5.
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Last modified: September 9, 2013