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March 25, 1994 Page 21 



These are patents held by R. J. Reynolds, number 4,83 0,028 

 issued May 16, 1989, and number 4,836,224, issued June 6, 1989. 

 The problem these patents set about solving is how to make 

 cigarettes that have low "tar" delivery but which still deliver 

 "a desirable tobacco taste, flavor and satisfaction to the 

 smoker." The patents make repeated reference to "satisfaction" 

 as a quality distinct from "taste." In establishing the need for 

 the present invention, the patents note that simply adding 

 nicotine to low "tar" cigarettes in an effort to solve the 

 problem at hand "generally yields mainstream smoke which may be 

 perceived as harsh or irritating to the mouth, nose and throat of 

 the user. " 



The solution disclosed in the patents is the use of an 

 organic acid salt of nicotine, especially nicotine levulinate, as 

 an additive to cigarettes having low "tar" deliveries. The 

 patents provide detailed instructions for the synthesis of this 

 salt from nicotine which is 95 to 99 percent pure. 



The first patent gives as examples experiments with a 99 mm 

 cigarette having an FTC "tar" delivery of 4.6 mg and with a king 

 size cigarette having an FTC "tar" delivery of 1.8 mg. The 

 desired smoking characteristics, increased nicotine delivery with 

 smoother smoking, were achieved with .the addition of about 37 mg 

 of nicotine levulinate to the first experimental cigarette and 

 about 36 mg of nicotine levulinate to the second (Table 5) . The 

 patent emphasizes that the achievement of the desired effect was 

 associated with a reduced pH of the smoke in the treated 



