Extraction of 2‐hydroxy‐acids from wool wax acids

By formation of the copper chelate complex of 2‐hydroxy‐aliphatic acids, the latter may be extracted from natural mixtures in yields of about 95% and purities exceeding 90%. Some of the factors influencing the yields have been explored, and it is shown that commercial samples of wool wax acids contain 5–10% of 2‐hydroxy‐acids.