COMBINATION OF VITAMIN-E WITH A CAROTENOID - ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL AND TROLOX LINKED TO BETA-APO-8'-CAROTENOIC ACID

Vitamin E and carotenoids show many similar and complementary properti es and protect living tissues against a variety of pathological proces ses. A mixture of both compounds often exhibits a significantly greate r effect than the sum of the individual activities. The synthetic link age of carotenoids with vitamin E might thus increase the synergistic effects. We therefore esterified beta-apo-8'-carotenoic acid with all- rac-alpha-tocopherol to give alpha-tocopheryl-beta-apo-8'-carotenoate. The carotenoic acid was also connected to alpha-tocopherol in a glyce ride ether, 1-O(alpha-tocopheryl)-3-(beta-apo-8'-carotenoyl)- glycerol , whereas the water-soluble vitamin E analogue, trolox, was combined w ith beta-apo-8-carotenoic acid in a diglyceride: roman-2-acyl)-3-(beta -apo-8'-carotenoyl)-glycerol.