>>1826899 lb
In 1985, Monsanto Company bought G.D. Searle, and the aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company. In March 2000, Monsanto sold it to J.W. Childs Equity Partners II L.P. European use patents on aspartame expired starting in 1987, and the U.S. patent expired in 1992.
Process for producing aspartame
Abstract
The artificial sweetener aspartame, a dipeptide with the formula Asp-Phe-me, is produced using a cloned microorganism. A DNA which codes for a large stable peptide comprised of the repeating amino acid sequence (Asp-Phe)n is inserted into a cloning vehicle which in turn is introduced into a suitable host microorganism. The host microorganism is cultured and the large peptide containing the repeating Asp-Phe sequence is harvested therefrom. The free carboxyl group of the large peptide is benzylated and then hydrolysed to benzyl Asp-Phe dipeptides. This dipeptide is methylated and then debenzylated to form aspartame.
Classifications
C07K5/0613 Aspartame
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0036258A2/en