Methods for producing ferric maltol compositions from ligand modified and ligand coated ferric hydroxides

1. A method for producing ferric trimaltol comprising reacting ligand-modified or ligand-coated ferric hydroxide with maltol and recovering the ferric trimaltol that forms, wherein the ligand is lysine or a tartaric acid or an ionized form thereof or a mixture thereof, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

(a) adding ferric chloride to water thereby to form a solution of ferric chloride;

(b) gradually adding 5 molar sodium hydroxide to the solution of ferric chloride thereby to form a ferric hydroxide colloid;

(c) adding the ferric hydroxide colloid to an aqueous solution or suspension of the ligand thereby to form a suspension of ligand-coated ferric hydroxide;

(d) adding sodium hydroxide to water thereby to form a solution of sodium hydroxide;

(e) adding maltol to the solution of sodium hydroxide thereby to form a solution of maltol; and

(f) gradually adding the suspension of ligand-coated ferric hydroxide to the solution of maltol thereby to form a dark red precipitate of ferric trimaltol crystals,

or wherein the method comprises the steps of:

(a′) adding ferric chloride and the ligand to water thereby forming an aqueous solution of ferric chloride and ligand;

(b′) gradually adding 5 molar sodium hydroxide to the aqueous solution of ferric chloride and ligand thereby to produce a ligand-modified ferric hydroxide gel;

(c′) adding sodium hydroxide to water thereby to form a solution of sodium hydroxide;

(d′) adding maltol to the solution of sodium hydroxide thereby to form a solution or slurry of maltol; and

(e′) gradually adding the ligand-modified ferric hydroxide to the solution of maltol, if necessary, adding hydrochloric acid to reduce the pH to 10, whereupon dark red crystals of ferric trimaltol precipitate,

wherein the molar ratio of ferric iron to ligand is 10:1 to 1:1,

wherein the maltol to ferric iron molar ratio is 3 to 3.75,

wherein the ligand-coated ferric hydroxide is in the form of particles of ferric hydroxide coated on their surface with ligand,

wherein the ligand-modified ferric hydroxide is in the form of particles of ferric hydroxide wherein the ligand is introduced into the solid phase structure of the particle by substituting for oxo or hydroxyl groups leading to a change in solid phase order.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the ferric hydroxide is ligand-modified ferric hydroxide.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the ferric hydroxide is ligand coated ferric hydroxide.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reaction between the ligand-modified ferric hydroxide and maltol releases hydroxyl ions as the ferric iron ions are complexed by maltol, leading to further dissolution of maltol in the slurry of maltol.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method is carried out under fully aqueous conditions.

6. The method according to claim 1 , comprising producing the ligand-modified or ligand-coated ferric hydroxide from elemental iron, and optionally removing unreacted iron with a magnet.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the elemental iron is dissolved in a strong mineral acid.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein ferric trimaltol is produced in a single vessel.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising separating, and optionally drying and/or formulating ferric trimaltol.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising mixing the ferric trimaltol with one or more excipients.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising formulating ferric trimaltol for administration to a subject.

12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the strong mineral acid is hydrochloric acid.