Granted Patent B2

US 12,539,472 · App. 18/043,810 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Michael Simon Loft (Cambridgeshire, GB); Alejandro Montellano Lopez (Cambridgeshire, GB); Alan James Silcock (Cambridgeshire, GB)

Assignee: JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS RESEARCH UK LIMITED

B01D11/0492A61K36/185B01D9/0036B01D9/0045B01D11/0288C07C39/23

Abstract

Claims (31)

1 . A process of preparing a stable substantially pure cannabinoid comprising:

a) decarboxylating botanical material to produce decarboxylated botanical material;

b) extracting the decarboxylated botanical material to produce crude extract; and

c) winterizing and crystallizing the crude extract of step b) to produce a stable substantially pure cannabinoid, comprising the sub-steps of:

i) precipitating alkanes in a first solvent by combining the crude extract of step b) with the first solvent to form a mixture, cooling the mixture, and removing the precipitated alkanes from the mixture by filtration;

ii) removing at least a portion of the first solvent from the mixture of sub-step i) by partial distillation to form a sub-step ii) mixture;

iii) solvent exchanging the sub-step ii) mixture into heptane to form a sub-step iii) mixture;

iv) removing the remaining first solvent from the sub-step iii) mixture by aqueous phase separation, resulting in a heptane solution;

v) heating the heptane solution of sub-step iv) and filtering it to form a filtered sub-step v) mixture;

vi) cooling the filtered sub-step v) mixture while agitating to form a sub-step vi) mixture;

vii) seeding the sub-step vi) mixture and propagating the seed, resulting in a sub-step vii) suspension;

viii) cooling, stirring, filtering and washing the sub-step vii) suspension, resulting in a sub-step viii) product; and

ix) de-liquoring and drying the sub-step viii) product to produce a stable substantially pure cannabinoid.

2 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cannabinoid comprises: cannabichromene (CBC), cannabichromenic acid (CBCV), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabidivarin (CBDV), Cannabidiol-C1 (CBD-C1) also known as cannabidiorcol, Cannabidiol-C4 (CBD-C4) also known as nor-cannabidiol, cannabidiol-C6 (CBD-C6), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabigerol propyl variant (CBGV), cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabinol (CBN), cannabinol propyl variant (CBNV), cannabitriol (CBO), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) or tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (THCVA).

3 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cannabinoid is cannabidiol (CBD).

4 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the extraction step is carried out using liquid CO2 at a temperature of 25° C. and pressure of 100 Barg.

5 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first solvent comprises methanol.

6 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winterizing in sub-step i) is carried out at a temperature between 0° C. to 5° C.

7 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase separation in sub-step iv) comprises two or three aqueous washes.

8 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winterizing in sub-step i) uses a filter aid that does not contain vanadium.

9 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winterizing in sub-step i) comprises adding a filter aid to remove the precipitated alkanes from the mixture.

10 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the winterizing in sub-step i) does not use a filter aid.

11 . The process as claimed in claim 10 wherein a chelating agent is added during the solvent exchange.

12 . The process as claimed in claim 11 wherein the chelating agent is citric acid.

13 . The process as claimed in claim 1 comprising adding one or more antioxidants to the stable substantially pure cannabinoid.

14 . The process as claimed in claim 13 wherein the one or more antioxidants comprises citric acid or ascorbyl palmitate.

15 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substantially pure cannabinoid is CBD and has a purity of >95%.

16 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein THC is present in the stable substantially pure cannabinoid at less than 0.15%.

17 . The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein CBDV is present in the stable substantially pure cannabinoid at up to 1%.

18 . The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first solvent is methanol.

19 . The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the extracting step b) comprises methanol extraction, and the aqueous phase separation of sub-step iv) reduces methanol to a level of <0.5% w/w in the heptane solution.

Assignments (3)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (242)