New progress has been made in L-menthol (L-menthol) research, and chemical synthesis is expected to become its mainstream preparation method

L-menthol, also known as L-menthol and L-menthol, has a chemical formula of C10H20O and is an organic compound. L-menthol appears as colorless needle-like crystals with a mint aroma and is easily soluble in most organic solvents such as ethanol, ether, acetone, benzene and chloroform. L-menthol has the advantages of good chemical stability, levorotatory optical properties, pleasant aroma, good antiseptic properties, and high medicinal value. It is widely used in medicine, spices, food processing and other fields.

The preparation methods of L-menthol include chemical synthesis and natural plant extraction. The chemical synthesis method usually uses α-citral, citral, myrcene, thymol, etc. as raw materials to synthesize L-menthol. It is currently used by BASF AG of Germany, Dezhixin Company of Germany, and Takasago Industry Co., Ltd. of Japan. This method prepares L-menthol. The natural plant extraction method is the traditional preparation method of L-menthol. This method usually uses distillation extraction to extract L-menthol from mint leaves. It has problems such as high production cost and scarcity of raw materials. In the future, it will be replaced by emerging methods such as chemical synthesis. replaced.

According to the “2023-2027 L-menthol (L-menthol) industry in-depth market research and investment strategy recommendations report》shows that L-menthol is mainly used in medicine, spices, food processing and other fields. In the field of medicine, L-menthol has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipruritic and antiseptic effects, and can be used to produce anti-inflammatory drugs, carminatives, stimulants, etc.; in the field of spices, L-menthol is the world’s largest selling spice list. L-menthol can be used to produce toothpaste, mouthwash, perfume and other products; in the field of food processing, L-menthol can be used to produce mint-flavored drinks. As the development of downstream industries accelerates, the L-menthol market size will further grow.

In recent years, Chinese enterprises and related scientific research institutions have continuously increased their investment in the research and development of L-menthol, and many new developments have been made. In December 2022, Professor Wang Honglin’s team at Shanghai First People’s Hospital successfully discovered that L-menthol can be used to treat psoriasis. In the future, as research continues to deepen, L-menthol will be applied in the field of small molecule drugs.

Global L-menthol market participants are mainly concentrated in Europe, America and Japan. my country’s industry started late and there are very few companies with its core production technology. Huilong Co., Ltd., Wanhua Chemical, Xinhecheng, and Haihua Technology are the main manufacturers of L-menthol in my country. Among them, Haihua Technology has the capacity to mass-produce high-purity L-menthol.

Industry analysts said that L-menthol is widely used in many fields and the industry development prospects are good. In recent years, with technological advancement, my country’s L-menthol production has increased, but it is still unable to meet downstream production needs, and the product is highly dependent on imports. At present, the core technology of chemical synthesis of L-menthol is monopolized by overseas developed countries, and local companies urgently need to increase investment in research and development to enhance their own technological advantages.