Abstract: This method for making sugar esters entails first reacting a sugar and an ter of that sugar having a degree of substitution greater than 2 with a Lewis acid or Lewis base catalyst in an organic solvent to form a sugar ester having a degree of substitution up to 2 and recovering the sugar ester having a degree of substitution up to 2 at ambient temperature. The recovery step must be conducted at a temperature below the distillation or boiling temperature of the organic solvent or else the DS of the resulting sugar ester will be greater than 2. This process is especially suited for sucrose esters. The reaction between the sugar and the sugar ester is conducted in the absence of a methyl ester of a fatty acid.

Abstract: Sugar esters are separated and purified by forming an aqueous mixture containing salt from which water is distilled off to remove unreacted volatile material from the raw sugar esters. Thereafter an organic extraction solvent is mixed into the aqueous mixture which upon standing separates into a plurality of layers containing sugar esters of different degrees of substitution which are recovered from the separated layers. The separated sugar esters may be further refined by mixing with water and by freeze drying the aqueous mixture.