In situ downstream strategies for cost-effective bio/surfactant recovery.

Since 60-80% of total costs of production are usually associated with downstream collection, separation, and purification processes, it has become advantageous to investigate how to replace traditional methods with efficient and cost-effective alternative techniques for recovery and purification of biosurfactants. In the traditional techniques, large volumes of organic solvents are usually used for increasing production cost and the overall environmental burden. In addition, traditional production and separation methods typically carried out in batch cultures reduce biosurfactant yields due to product inhibition and lower biosurfactants activity as a result of interaction with the organic solvents used. However, some in situ recovery methods that allow continuous separation of bioproducts from culture broth leading to an improvement in yield production and fermentation efficiency. For biosurfactants commercialization, enhancement of product capacity of the separation methods and the rate of product removal is critical. Recently, interest in the integration of separation methods with a production step as rapid and efficient techniques has been increasing. This review focuses on the technology gains and potentials for the most common methods used in in situ product removal: foam fractionation and ultrafiltration, especially used to recover and purify two well-known biosurfactants: glycolipids (rhamnolipids) and lipopeptides (surfactins).

Opportunities for Bio-Based Solvents Created as Petrochemical and Fuel Products Transition towards Renewable Resources.

The global bio-based chemical market is growing in size and importance. Bio-based solvents such as glycerol and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran are often discussed as important introductions to the conventional repertoire of solvents. However adoption of new innovations by industry is typically slow. Therefore it might be anticipated that neoteric solvent systems (e.g., ionic liquids) will remain niche, while renewable routes to historically established solvents will continue to grow in importance. This review discusses bio-based solvents from the perspective of their production, identifying suitable feedstocks, platform molecules, and relevant product streams for the sustainable manufacturing of conventional solvents.

Delivering the promise of SFC: a case study.

During the past years there has been a rapid development in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) instrumentation making it a highly efficient and robust technique. Although much is written about the advantages of SFC over liquid chromatography (LC), there are not many direct comparisons detailing the gain in purification throughput, the savings in solvent consumption and the reduced environmental impact for large-scale SFC applications. We will show that a research scale separation laboratory built to handle multigram amounts can be used for kilogram separations when moving from LC to SFC.

A validated RP-HPLC method for quantitative determination of related impurities of ursodeoxycholic acid (API) by refractive index detection.

An isocratic RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for quantitative determination of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and its related impurities. Considering the lower molecular absorptivity of UDCA, refractive index detector was used to detect the impurities on a Phenomenex Luna C(18), 150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm column. The mobile phase was 0.1% acetic acid/methanol (30:70, v/v) and flow rate was 0.8 ml/min. The detector and column temperature was maintained at 40°C. The method is linear over a range of 0.25-3.5 µg/ml for all impurities and coefficient of correlation (r(2)) was ≥0.9945. The accuracy of method demonstrated at three levels in the range of 50-150% of the specification limit and recoveries were found to be in the range of 97.11-100.75%. The precision for all related impurities was below 3.5% R.S.D. The method was applied to commercial bulk drug sample for assay purpose.

Optimized design of recycle chromatography to isolate intermediate retained solutes in ternary mixtures: Langmuir isotherm systems.

Batch chromatography with a recycle stream is a popular and simple technique to separate a single target component in a complex mixture with moderate operating conditions. Design of recycle chromatography depends on the retention behaviors of the mixture components. In this work, four nucleosides were considered as solutes. Feed concentration and recycle methods were optimized to isolate only the intermediate retained solute in ternary and pseudo-ternary mixtures. Two recycle methods introduced in our previous work for linear isotherms, the desorbent and feed recycle methods, were compared in terms of productivity and desorbent to feed ratio, D/F, with various feed concentrations for competitive Langmuir isotherm systems. The simulation results show that the target (intermediate retained solute) was separated with over 99.76% purity and 99.88% yield. Productivity of the feed recycle method was increased by up to 162% and D/F was decreased by up to 59% compared to the desorbent recycle method. For the separation of nucleosides, recycle chromatography was compared to eight column simulated moving bed (SMB) cascades with a recycle stream and D/F of the SMB cascades was 58% lower than D/F of recycle chromatography at the same productivity. However, recycle chromatography is much simpler.

Theoretical and experimental comparison of mobile phase consumption between ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography.

Ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) using small particles and very high pressure has demonstrated higher resolution and speed compared with conventional HPLC. An additional benefit of UPLC is the significantly reduced consumption of mobile phase. This report discusses how column length, particle size, inner column diameter, extra column void volume, and capacity factor contribute to the reduction of mobile phase consumption in UPLC compared with HPLC. In addition, theoretical and experimental comparison of mobile phase consumption was made between isocratic HPLC and UPLC as well as between gradient HPLC and UPLC. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that UPLC typically saves at least 80% of mobile phase in isocratic and gradient conditions when compared with HPLC.

Dichloropentafluoropropanes as solvents for size exclusion chromatography.

We have found that HCFC225s (HCFC225ca: 3,3-dichloro-1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoropropane, HCFC225cb: 1,3-dichloro-1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane) are superior mobile phases for size exclusion chromatography (SEC). As alternatives of CFC113, they have been shown to possess a number of excellent properties, such as low flammability, low viscosity, low cost, high purity, and environmental and operational friendliness. In addition, they have distinct advantages for the SEC measurement, because they solubilize some kinds of acrylate such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and commercial monodispersed PMMA can be used to prepare calibration curves necessary for the measurement of equivalent molecular weight of some polymers. Furthermore, we propose an HCFC225/1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol mixed solvent for use in the SEC of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and polyamides. Poly(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl acrylate), whose PMMA equivalent weight average molecular weight was 118,100 Da, was evaluated by a multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) detector to have an absolute molecular weight of 439,000 Da. The difference can be attributed to the molecular size of the polyfluorinated polymer compared to the non-fluorinated one. The possible application of this novel mobile phase system for molecular size and molecular weight characterization of perfluoropolyethers, PET, nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 are also discussed.

Cost-effective post-exposure prevention of poison ivy dermatitis.

BACKGROUND: Poison ivy (toxicodendron) dermatitis is the most common allergic contact dermatitis in the USA. No studies have shown an effect of washing after a short period of time for the prevention of binding of urushiol to the skin. Objective To evaluate the efficacy of three different modes of postcontact prevention using a surfactant (Dial ultra dishwashing soap), an oil-removing compound (Goop), and chemical inactivation (a commercial product Tecnu). METHODS: A consented, unsponsored, volunteer experimental study on medical students from the University of Missouri School of Medicine, Kansas City. Each subject served as his/her own control, comparing four 2.5-cm exposed squares on the inner aspect of the forearm, three of which were treated and one untreated. RESULTS: Comparisons between the different agents were nonsignificant with P > 0.05. Each treatment, however, was significantly improved over the untreated control. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed 70%, 61.8%, and 56. 4% protection with Tecnu, Goop, and Dial, respectively, when compared to the positive control, or to the possible maximum response, with a cost per ounce (in a local drug and automotive store) of $1.25, $0.07, and $0.07, respectively, for a decrease in protection that is nonsignificant.