442 



4,830,028 



SALTS PROVIDED I ROM NICOTINE AND 

 ORGANIC ACID AS CIGARETTE ADDITIVES 



BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 



The present invention relates to smoking articles such 

 HS cigarettes, and in particular to those smoking articles 

 having incorporated therein an additive comprising 

 nicotine and an organic acid. 



Popular smoking articles such as cigarettes have a '" 

 substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and in- 

 clude a charge of smokahle material such as particulates 

 of tobacco (i.e.. cut filler) surrounded by a wrapper 

 such as paper thereby forming a tobacco rod. It has 

 become desirable to manufacture cigarettes having cy- '^ 

 liiidrical filters aligned in an end-to-end relationship 

 with the tobacco rod. Typically, filters are manufac- 

 tured from fibrous materials such as cellulose acetate 

 and are attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscrib- 

 ing lipping material. 20 



The so called "full flavor" cigarettes are popular 

 smoking articles which delivers a desirable tobacco 

 taste, navor and satisfaction to the smoker. Typically, 

 the "full flavor" cigarettes deliver about 14 mg or more 

 of FTC "tar" per cigarette. Cigarettes also can be classi- 25 

 fied as "full flavor low tar" cigarettes. Typically, the 

 "full (lavor low tar" cigarettes deliver from about 8 to 

 about 14 mg of FTC "tar" per cigarette, as well as 

 lower levels of FTC nicotine as compared to "full fla- 

 vor" cigarettes. Yet another classification of popular 30 

 cigarettes is the "ultra low tar" cigarette which delivers 

 still lower levels of FTC "tar" and nicotine. Typically, 

 the "ultra low tar" cigarettes deliver less than about 7 

 mg of FTC "tar" per cigarette. The "full fiavor low 

 tar" and "ultra low tar" cigarettes conventionally have 35 

 air dilution means such as laser perforations provided in 

 the periphery of the mouth end region thereof, or have 

 filter elements highly efficient for the removal of "tar" 

 and nicotine from the mainstream aerosol. In general, 

 the perceived taste or strength of the cigarettes classi- 40 

 fied as having lower levels of "tar" and nicotine are 

 progressively less than that of the cigarettes which are 

 classified as approaching the characteristics of the "full 

 flavor" cigarettes. It has been proposed to add nicotine 

 and other flavorants to the cut filler of lower "tar" 45 

 cigarettes to enhance the taste, strength and satisfaction 

 of such cigarettes. However, the addition of nicotine to 

 such cigarettes generally yields mainstream smoke 

 which may be perceived as harsh or irritating to the 

 mouth, nose and throat of the user. 50 



The addition of nicotine di-(p-toluoyltartrate) salts to 

 cigarettes has been proposed in order to study the exog- 

 enous transfer of nicotine from the cigarette during 

 smoking. See. for example. Houseman, Deiir Tohak- 

 fonch. Vol. 7, p. 14(1973); Jenkins el al, /nl'lJournal o/ !•$ 

 Applied Radiaiion and Ismopes. Vol. 27, p. 323 (1976); 

 Annitage et al. Quarterly Jnttriwl of Experimental Physi- 

 olony. Vol. 59, p. 55 (1974) However, the cited articles 

 propose neither improved taste nor other enhanced 

 smoking characteristics of the cigarettes as a result of 60 

 the salt additive. 



It would be desirable to provide a cigeretle such as an 

 "ultra low tar" cigarette which is capable of delivering 

 a good tobacco taste, strength and smoking satisfaction 

 characteristic of a "full flavor low tar" cigarette while 65 

 not being perceived as being overly harsh or irritating. 

 In addition, it would be desirable to provide a cigarette 

 such as "full flavor low tar" cigarette which is capable 



of delivering a good tobacco taste, strength and smok- 

 ing satisfaction characteristic of a "full flavor" cigarette 

 while not being perceived as being overly harsh or 

 irritating. 



SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 



The present invention relates to a smoking article 

 which delivers good tobacco taste while being capable 

 of delivering relatively low amounts of FTC "tar." 

 Preferred articles of this invention ate cigarettes which 

 deliver a taste, strength and smoking satisfaction char- 

 acteristic of a "full flavor" cigarette, and relatively low 

 levels of FTC "tar" characteristic of "full flavor low 

 tar" cigarettes. Also preferred are cigarettes which 

 deliver a taste, strength and smoking satisfaction char- 

 acteristic of a "full fiavor low tar" cigarette, and rela- 

 tively low levels of FTC "tar" characteristic of "ultra 

 low tar" cigarettes. In addition, the preferred cigarettes 

 are extremely palatable and provide the perception of 

 having a smooth smoking character (i.e . not providing 

 a perceived harsh or irritating character) relative lo a 

 comparable cigarette delivering similar levels of FTC 

 "tar." Of particular interest are cigarettes having (i) 

 relatively low FTC "tar" to FTC nicotine ratios (iil 

 relatively low FTC carbon monoxide to FTC nicotine 

 ratios, (iii) good tobacco flavor, strength and satisfac- 

 tion, and (iv) a smooth, palatable smoking character 

 without being overly mild tasting 



A smoking article in accord with this invention has 

 incorporated therein at least one salt provided fiom 

 nicotine and an organic acid. The salt is incorporated 

 within the smoking article as an additive. Preferably, 

 the salt is such that the molar ratio of nicotine to organic 

 acid therein is 1;3. Most preferably, the salt additive 

 includes nicotine levulinate. The particular salt is incor 

 porated into the smoking article in such a manner that 

 during use of the article, the salt is subjected to decom- 

 position conditions. The presence of the salt within the 

 article provides improved tobacco taste, strength ami 

 smoking satisfaction as well as improved or maintained 

 fiavor characteristics to the aerosol during use of the 

 article. Preferred smoking articles do not exhibit unde- 

 sirable off-tastes 



BRIEF DESCRIFFION OF THE DRAWINGS 



FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a smoking 

 article of this invention. 



DETAILED DESCRIPITON OF THE 

 PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 



One embodiment of a smoking ariicle of this inven- 

 tion is shown in FIG. 1 and has the form of a cigarette 

 10- 1 he cigarette includes a generally cylindrical rod 15 

 of filler material 20 contained in circumscribing wrap- 

 ping material 25. The rod 15 is hereinafter referred to as 

 a "smokable rod" or a "tobacco rod," The ends of the 

 tobacco rod are open to expose the filler material. The 

 cigarette 10 also includes a filler element 30 positioned 

 adjacent one end of the tobacco rod IS such that the 

 filter element and tobacco rod are axially aligned in an 

 end-to-end relationsiiip, preferably abutting one an- 

 other. Filter element 30 has a generally cylindrical 

 shape, and the diameter thereof is essentially equal to 

 the diameter of the tobacco rod. The ends of the filler 

 element are open to permit the p.Tssage of air and smoke 

 therethrough The filter element 30 includes filler mate- 

 rial 35 which is overwrapped along the longitudinally 



