Physicochemical Characterization of Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana)-derived Biodiesel Purified with Deed Eutectic Solvents.

A high-oil candlenut (Aleurites moluccana)-derived biodiesel was purified using new generation solvents called Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and physicochemical properties of the purified biodiesel were assessed according to the accepted international standards for biodiesel (ASTM D6751; EN 14214). Binary and ternary choline chloride-based DESs containing glycerol and ethylene glycol as hydrogen bond donors were synthesized. The results of the investigation showed that the quality of DESs-purified biodiesel generally improved compared with the unpurified biodiesel and fulfilled the accepted standard limits for biodiesel except carbon residue and oxidation stability properties. Choline chloride/ethylene glycol (ChCl/Eg, 1:2 molar ratio) having a DES/biodiesel ratio of 1:1 (DES2-11) has enhanced the Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) content of unpurified biodiesel from 81.89% to 98.13%, and the oxidation stability from 2.36 h to 3.06 h. 1H NMR examination showed the successful synthesis of DESs; GC-MS analysis of candlenut oil and its biodiesel revealed oil and fatty acid methyl ester compositions, respectively. The similarity in FAME compositions between DESs-purified and unpurified biodiesel as revealed through GC-MS examination suggests the selective removal of impurities and the efficiency of DESs in improving the quality of candlenut-derived biodiesel.

Lipid based biocompatible ionic liquids: synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility evaluation.

We report a new series of lipid-based biocompatible ionic liquids (LBILs) consisting of the long-chain phosphonium compound 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-ethyl-phosphatidylcholine as the cation and the long-chain fatty acids stearic acid, oleic acid, or linoleic acid as anions. These materials were found to be completely miscible with many polar and nonpolar organic solvents as well as dispersible in water. These LBILs also exhibited excellent biocompatibility with an artificial three-dimensional human epidermis model.

Role of solvent in differential phase behavior of celecoxib during spray drying.

Spray drying is an industrially viable technique that can be used for modulation of the physical form of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), which is governed by inherent crystallization tendency and processing parameters during spray drying. In the current study, we investigated the role of solvent in differential phase behavior of celecoxib, a poor crystallizer, during spray drying and unveiled the underlying mechanisms. 1% w/v solutions of celecoxib in three different compositions of methanol (M)-water (W) solvent system were spray dried using a laboratory spray dryer. The proportions were 0, 5 and 10% v/v of water in methanol (MW0, MW5, and MW10, respectively). Percentage crystallinity of the spray dried products were evaluated using modulated differential scanning calorimetry and was in the order MW10 > MW5 > MW0 (i.e. 18.52% > 8.13% > 0%). Solution-state and solid-state crystallization events responsible for the experimental observations were probed using microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and non-isothermal crystallization studies. An intermediate amorphous phase was generated for the studied samples, which underwent crystallization under the influence of chamber temperature for MW5 and MW10. Additionally, liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) at very high level of supersaturation led to relatively higher crystallinity for MW10. Insights from this work provide the basis for understanding of probable phase behavior of poor crystallizers during spray drying.

Deep eutectic solvent functionalized graphene oxide composite adsorbent for miniaturized pipette-tip solid-phase extraction of toluene and xylene exposure biomarkers in urine prior to their determination with HPLC-UV.

A deep eutectic solvent functionalized graphene oxide composite adsorbent (DFG) was synthesized through reversible-addition fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization. The synthesized DFG had multiple adsorption interactions after covalent modification with a deep eutectic solvent (allyltriethylammonium bromide/ethylene glycol). Adsorption isotherms and kinetics studies of DFG indicate that the adsorption of hippuric acid (HA) and methylhippuric acid (MHA) was monolayer chemical adsorption. The comparison of DFG with commercial adsorbents demonstrates that the adsorption ability of DFG was superior. This was due to the multiple adsorption interactions of DFG for the three analytes (mainly π-interaction, hydrogen bonding, electrostatic adsorption, and hydrophobic interaction). The DFG adsorbent was applied to miniaturized pipette-tip solid-phase extraction (MPT-SPE), followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine biomarkers in urine for toluene and xylene exposure. The DFG-MPT-SPE-HPLC method required only 2.00 mg of DFG as adsorbent, 0.50 mL of washing solvent, and 0.40 mL of elution solvent to achieve a wide linear range (0.200-200 µg mL-1), high recoveries (90.9-99.1%), and high precision (RSD ≤ 6.3%). The proposed method was applied to determine HA and MHA in urine samples from occupational workers. Graphical abstract Deep eutectic solvent functionalized graphene oxide composite adsorbent for miniaturized pipette-tip solid-phase extraction of toluene and xylene exposure biomarkers in urine prior to their determination with HPLC-UV.

Synthesis of natural deep eutectic solvents using a mixture design for extraction of animal and plant samples prior to ICP-MS analysis.

Solvents with both low density and viscosity have the advantage of higher extraction efficiency due to lower diffusivity and consequently higher mass transfer. In this study, a mixture design was performed for the synthesis of three different natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) using citric acid, malic acid, and xylitol. The optimized proportion for each of the three solvents synthesized was selected based on density and viscosity values. The NADES were characterized by infrared spectroscopy analysis, that showed characteristic bands of the initial reagents and the presence of hydrogen bonds confirming the formation of each deep eutectic solvent. Then, the NADES were used as solvents in ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of biological tissue and plant material samples for the determination of As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Se, and V by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results for the proposed methods were compared to microwave-assisted acid digestion (MW-AD). The extraction recoveries ranged from 80 to 120% for most of the elements determined. The use of NADES as carbon sources improved the sensitivity of the As and Cd analyses, due to charge transfer reactions between the analyte and C+ and/or other carbon species. In addition, the Analytical Eco-Scale was used to assess the greenness of the proposed analytical procedures (UAE and MAE). It showed that the UAE and MAE methods provided excellent green analyses, while the MW-AD method was rated as an acceptable green procedure.

Effect of Four Novel Bio-Based DES (Deep Eutectic Solvents) on Hardwood Fractionation.

Using the basic principle of construction between a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and a hydrogen bond donor (HBD), four bio-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were prepared in a 1:2 molar ratio of HBA:HBD. 2,3-Dihydroxypropyl-1-triethylammonium chloride ([C9H22N+O2]Cl-) was synthesized from raw glycerol and used as an HBA. Lactic acid, urea, pure glycerol, and ethylene glycol were selected as HBD. Attempts to prepare DESs, using citric acid and benzoic acid as HBDs, were unsuccessful. All these DESs were characterized using FTIR and NMR techniques. Besides, physicochemical parameters such as pH, viscosity, density, and melting point were determined. The behavior of these DES to fractionate olive pomace was studied. Lignin recovery yields spanned between 27% and 39% (w/w) of the available lignin in olive pomace. The best DES, in terms of lignin yield ([C9H22N+O2]Cl- -lactic acid), was selected to perform a scale-up lignin extraction using 40 g of olive pomace. Lignin recovery on the multigram scale was similar to the mg scale (38% w/w). Similarly, for the holocellulose-rich fractions, recovery yields were 34% and 45% for mg and multi-gram scale, respectively. Finally, this DES was used to fractionate four fruit pruning samples. These results show that our novel DESs are alternative approaches to the ionic liquid:triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate and the widely used DES: choline chloride:lactic acid (1:10 molar ratio) for biomass processing.

Bio-Based Solvents and Gasoline Components From Renewable 2,3-Butanediol and 1,2-Propanediol: Synthesis and Characterization.

In this study approaches for chemical conversions of the renewable compounds 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD) and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) that yield the corresponding cyclic ketals and glycol ethers have been investigated experimentally. The characterization of the obtained products as potential green solvents and gasoline components is discussed. Cyclic ketals have been obtained by the direct reaction of the diols with lower aliphatic ketones (1,2-PD + acetone → 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-dioxolane (TMD) and 2,3-BD + butanone-2 → 2-ethyl-2,4,5-trimethyl-1,3-dioxolane (ETMD)), for which the ΔH0r, ΔS0r and ΔG0r values have been estimated experimentally. The monoethers of diols could be obtained through either hydrogenolysis of the pure ketals or from the ketone and the diol via reductive alkylation. In the both reactions, the cyclic ketals (TMD and ETMD) have been hydrogenated in nearly quantitative yields to the corresponding isopropoxypropanols (IPP) and 3-sec-butoxy-2-butanol (SBB) under mild conditions (T = 120-140 °C, p(H2) = 40 bar) with high selectivity (>93%). Four products (TMD, ETMD, IPP and SBB) have been characterized as far as their physical properties are concerned (density, melting/boiling points, viscosity, calorific value, evaporation rate, Antoine equation coefficients), as well as their solvent ones (Kamlet-Taft solvatochromic parameters, miscibility, and polymer solubilization). In the investigation of gasoline blending properties, TMD, ETMD, IPP and SBB have shown remarkable antiknock performance with blending antiknock indices of 95.2, 92.7, 99.2 and 99.7 points, respectively.

Hydrophobic borneol-based natural deep eutectic solvents as a green extraction media for air-assisted liquid-liquid micro-extraction of warfarin in biological samples.

In the present study, a new generation of water-immiscible natural deep eutectic solvents (DESs) was synthesized using borneol as a hydrogen-bonding acceptor and decanoic acid, oleic acid, and thymol as a hydrogen-bonding donor in different molar ratios. These green hydrophobic solvents which are chemically stable in aqueous solutions were used as extraction solvents for isolation and pre-concentration of warfarin in biological samples. In this method, fine droplets of DESs were dispersed into the sample solution by using the air-assisted liquid-liquid micro-extraction method to accelerate the cloudy emulsion system formation and increase the mass transfer of the analyte to the DES-rich phase. The borneol based deep eutectic solvent is a worthy generation of the extraction solvents in the ALLME method due to low-cost and less toxicity. A Plackett-Burman design was utilized for screening the experimental parameters. The effective parameters were then optimized by Box-Behnken design (BBD). Optimized extraction conditions were pH of sample solution of 3.9, number of aspiration/dispersion cycles of 15, the volume of DES of 60 µL, and rate and time of centrifuge of 6000 rpm and 10 min, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the developed NADES-ALLME method exhibited a wide linear range of 5-500 µg L - 1 for plasma and urine samples with satisfactory recoveries above 88.80%. Limit of detections (LODs) and Limit of quantifications (LOQs) of warfarin were in the ranges of 0.5-2.7 and 1.65-8.91, respectively. The enrichment factors were obtained in the range of 148-164 and precisions were lower than 5.87%. Finally, the proposed method was successfully employed for the analysis of warfarin in human urine and plasma samples.

Deep eutectic solvents for pharmaceutical formulation and drug delivery applications.

Solvents play key roles in designing drug delivery systems (DDSs). They are used as the reaction media in the preparation of DDSs and as vehicles for delivery of problematic drugs. The number of pharmaceutically acceptable solvents is limited and developing new green ones is of a great of interest. A deep eutectic solvent (DES) is a room temperature liquid composed of a mixture of hydrogen bond acceptor and hydrogen bond donor. DESs exhibit interesting physical and chemical characteristics such as low vapor pressure, non-inflammability, chemically tailorable, solvency power for a wide range of solutes, and water non-reactivity. Furthermore, they can be easily prepared from low toxicity, readily available, and inexpensive constituents. Due to these properties, DESs have attracted growing attention as green solvents in different areas of science from chemistry to material engineering and biology. In this review, after a brief introduction about DESs, we provide an overview about current advances made over the last decade in utilizing of DESs for solubilization of water insoluble drugs, transdermal drug delivery, inorganic nanoparticle synthesis, and designing polymeric and self-assembled drug carriers. This paper also discusses main challenges and limitations of DESs that should be considered before using of them.

Deep Eutectic Solvents as Effective Reaction Media for the Synthesis of 2-Hydroxyphenylbenzimidazole-based Scaffolds en Route to Donepezil-Like Compounds.

An unsubstituted 2-hydroxyphenylbenzimidazole has recently been included as a scaffold in a series of hybrids (including the hit compound PZ1) based on the framework of the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor Donepezil, which is a new promising multi-target ligand in Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment. Building upon these findings, we have now designed and completed the whole synthesis of PZ1 in the so-called deep eutectic solvents (DESs), which have emerged as an unconventional class of bio-renewable reaction media in green synthesis. Under optimized reaction conditions, the preparation of a series of 2-hydroxyphenylbenzimidazole-based nuclei has also been perfected in DESs, and comparison with other routes which employ toxic and volatile organic solvents (VOCs) provided. The functionalization of the aromatic ring can have implications on some important biological properties of the described derivatives and will be the subject of future studies of structure-activity relationships (SARs).

A simple and efficient sample preparation for taxanes in Taxus chinensis needles with natural menthol-based aqueous deep eutectic solvent.

Taxanes are natural anticancer constituents, and the sample preparation from matrix normally depends on organochlorine solvents. In this study, green and natural menthol-based aqueous deep eutectic solvent was synthesized and used for sample preparation for taxanes. Five key parameters were optimized and the optimal preparation conditions were as follows: menthol/1-propanol ratio 1:1 (mol/mol), solid-liquid ratio 1:30 g/mL, extraction time 30 min, ultrasonic power 250 W, and water content 80%. Under the above conditions, the total extraction efficiency of seven main taxanes was 1.25- to 1.44-fold to the conventional methods. In addition, a high-performance liquid chromatography method with C18 column was established for quantitation of seven main taxanes in <25 min, which had excellent linearity (R2  > 0.9986), precision (relative standard deviation < 3.00%), repeatability (relative standard deviation < 3.69%), and recovery (90.26-109.00%). This method performed the extraction, and enrichment processes simultaneously, and it had advantages such as high extraction efficiency, simple operation, low cost, and eco-friendliness. This work indicated that the natural menthol-based deep eutectic solvent aqueous could be an excellent alternative to the sample preparation from Taxus or other plants.

An example of how to establish the thermodynamic stability relationship between two polymorphs of a compound highly prone to solvate formation.

Upon transition from research to development, a new chemical entity, which acts upon the Kv1.5-potassium channel and blocks potassium flow in the atrium of the human heart, has been subjected to a crystallization screen. The sodium salt of an anthranilic acid amide with a heteroarylsulfonyl side chain forms solvates from all tested organic solvents. Solvent-free crystalline phases can only be obtained by drying certain solvates under suitable conditions. Two well crystalline solvent-free phases can be obtained this way. Three different methods were applied to determine their thermodynamic stability relationship from melting, solution and eutectic melting data. The different approaches are discussed and compared with respect to their accuracy and limitations.

Cyclobutane-Containing Scaffolds as Useful Intermediates in the Stereoselective Synthesis of Suitable Candidates for Biomedical Purposes: Surfactants, Gelators and Metal Cation Ligands.

Efficient and versatile synthetic methodologies are reported for the preparation of products that are suitable candidates to be used as surfactants, gelators for hydroxylic solvents or metal cation ligands, with potential use in several fields including biomedical applications. The common structural feature of all the synthesized products is the presence of a cis or trans-1,2- or cis-1,3-difunctionalized cyclobutane ring. In the two first cases, the key intermediates including enantiomerically pure 1,3-diamines and 1,3-amino alcohols have been prepared from ß-amino acid derivatives obtained, in turn, from a chiral half-ester. This compound is also precursor of γ-amino esters. Furthermore, two kind of polydentate ligands have also been synthesized from a symmetric 1,5-diamine obtained from norpinic acid, which was easily prepared from commercial verbenone.

Preparation of 6-aminocyclohepta-2,4-dien-1-one Derivatives via Tricarbonyl(tropone)iron.

aza-Michael adducts of tricarbonyl(tropone)iron are synthesized by two different methods. Primary aliphatic amines and cyclic secondary amines participate in a direct aza-Michael reaction with tricarbonyl(tropone)iron under solvent-free conditions. Less nucleophilic aniline derivatives and more hindered secondary amines add efficiently to the cationic tropone complex formed by protonation of tricarbonyl(tropone)iron. While the protocol utilizing the cationic complex is less efficient overall for accessing the aza-Michael adducts than the direct, solvent-free addition to the neutral complex, it allows the use of a broader range of amine nucleophiles. Following protection of the amine of the aza-Michael adduct as a tert-butyl carbamate, the diene is decomplexed from the iron tricarbonyl fragment upon treatment with cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate to provide derivatives of 6-aminocyclohepta-2,4-dien-1-one. These products can serve as precursors to diverse compounds containing a seven-membered carbocyclic ring. Because the demetallation requires protection of the amine as a carbamate, the aza-Michael adducts of secondary amines cannot be decomplexed using the protocol described here.

In silico Design, Virtual Screening and Synthesis of Novel Electrolytic Solvents.

We report the building, validation and release of QSPR (Quantitative Structure Property Relationship) models aiming to guide the design of new solvents for the next generation of Li-ion batteries. The dataset compiled from the literature included oxidation potentials (Eox ), specific ionic conductivities (κ), melting points (Tm ) and boiling points (Tb ) for 103 electrolytes. Each of the resulting consensus models assembled 9-19 individual Support Vector Machine models built on different sets of ISIDA fragment descriptors.(1) They were implemented in the ISIDA/Predictor software. Developed models were used to screen a virtual library of 9965 esters and sulfones. The most promising compounds prioritized according to theoretically estimated properties were synthesized and experimentally tested.

Natural deep eutectic solvents for sample preparation prior to elemental analysis by plasma-based techniques.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) based on xylitol, citric acid, and malic acid were synthesized and were then characterized using infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), also density and viscosity were measurements. The deep eutectic solvents were used as solvent in ultrasound-assisted extraction (DES-UAE) of plant samples prior to elemental analysis. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) were employed for the determination of As, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, and Zn in the extracts. The infrared analyses of the NADES revealed bands characteristic of the initial reagents, with the presence of hydrogen bonds, which confirmed the formation of a NADES. The thermal analyses showed decomposition temperatures of around 170 °C and endothermic events related to degradation of the NADES. The viscosity and density parameters were found to be related to the presence of hydrogen bonds. The extraction recoveries ranged from 80% to 120%, with some analytes presenting poor recoveries. There were no significant differences between the NADES, in terms of the concentrations of the analytes found in the extracts. However, there were differences between the analyte concentrations obtained using the NADES extraction method and the concentrations obtained using microwave-assisted acid digestion (MW-AD), possibly due to the different types of interactions between the solvents and the analytes. Plant tissues are complex matrices containing substantial amounts of silica, so some elements may be tightly bound and consequently difficult to release. The results indicated that UAE using NADES is a promising technique for the elemental extraction of plant samples.

In situ decomposition of deep eutectic solvent as a novel approach in liquid-liquid microextraction.

In this study, a novel approach for effective liquid-liquid microextraction based on deep eutectic solvent (DES) decomposition was suggested for the first time. It was established that DESs synthesized from tetrabutylammonium bromide and long-chain alcohols decomposed in aqueous phase resulting in in situ dispersion of organic phase and extraction of hydrophobic analyte(s). It this process long-chain alcohol acted as an extraction solvent and tetrabutylammonium bromide acted as a dispersive agent and promoted mass transfer between aqueous and organic phases as a salting out agent. Phenomenon of DES decomposition was studied in detail and applied for separation and preconcentration in chemical analysis for the first time. The developed approach was applied for 17ß-estradiol microextraction from transdermal gel samples as a proof-of-concept example. The results showed that the in situ dispersed organic phase obtained can provide efficient extraction of 17ß-estradiol with good extraction recovery (95 ±â€¯5%) and excellent reproducibility (6%). The reported approach proves to be fast, simple, and inexpensive.

Manufacturing of Multi-drug Formulations with Customised Dose by Solvent Impregnation of Mesoporous Silica Tablets.

The manufacture of personalised medicines where specific combinations of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their dose within a tablet would be adjusted to the needs of individual patients, would require new manufacturing approaches compared to the established practice. In the case of low-dose formulations, the required precision of API content might not be achievable by traditional unit operations such as solid powder blending. The aim of the present work was to explore an alternative approach, based on the concept of pre-formulated placebo tablets containing mesoporous silica particles capable of absorbing APIs in the form of solutions, which can be precisely dosed at arbitrarily low quantities. The precision of the liquid dosing system has been validated; it was shown that the mechanical properties of the tablets were satisfactory even after multiple impregnation-drying cycles and that pharmacopoeia specifications on content uniformity could be met. Using model APIs, the spatial distribution of the API within the tablet after impregnation was investigated and shown to depend on the number and order of the impregnation-drying cycles. It was found that when an API was loaded to the tablet in a single step, a different dissolution profile was obtained compared to the same quantity dosed in multiple smaller steps. Overall, the approach of loading multiple API to a pre-formulated tablet at defined quantities using drop-on-demand liquid dosing was found to be feasible from the dose uniformity point of view. Further research should focus on potential API interactions and storage stability of tablets manufactured in this way.

Preparation of two-dimensional magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers based on boron nitride and a deep eutectic solvent for the selective recognition of flavonoids.

New types of two-dimensional (2D) boron nitride (BN) were developed as a 2D scaffold material. After modification with ternary deep eutectic solvents (DES, ChCl-caffeic acid-ethylene glycol), the processed BN was applied to the preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs). In the polymerization of MMIPs, DESs and hydrophobic Fe3O4 magnetite were applied as the functional monomer and magnetically susceptible component, respectively. A 2D ellipsoid material was formed successfully by polymerization on the surface of the processed BN. The proposed 2D-MMIPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption analysis techniques. The surface area of the 2D-MMIPs was increased using eco-friendly chemicals. The proposed 2D-MMIPs had a 2D oblate structure and a large surface area. The 2D-MMIPs were used for the preconcentration of flavonoids from Ginkgo biloba leaf extracts. High performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet analysis revealed that the 2D-MMIPs have higher recoveries for the flavonoids (quercetin 96.8%, isorhamnetin 93.6% and kaempferol 94.8%) in Ginkgo biloba leaves than common MMIPs.

A high thermally stable oligomer-based supramolecular solvent for universal headspace Gas Chromatography: Proof-of-principle determination of residual solvents in drugs.

Supramolecular solvent (SUPRAS) extraction is gaining attraction as a sample treatment technique because of its great performance in terms of effectiveness, versatility, sample clean-up, quickness, cost and sustainability. However, the nature of SUPRASs, being formed by amphiphile molecules, results in poor compatibility with Gas Chromatography (GC). Here, we show the hitherto unexplored development of a SUPRAS with high thermal stability (HTS) suitable for subsequent direct analysis by Headspace (HS)-GC. This novel HTS-SUPRAS, based on poly-undecylenic acid -an oligomeric surfactant-, tetraglyme -a polar aprotic solvent with excellent chemical and thermal stability- and water, was fully characterized in terms of composition and physical properties such as thermal stability. Subsequently, the HTS-SUPRAS developed was further successfully applied, as a proof-of-principle, to the extraction and determination of residual solvents in pharmaceutical drugs, including several solvents (class 2C) whose analysis by HS-GC has been shown to be highly complex. Analytical performance was demonstrated as mandated by the International Council for Harmonisation of technical requirements for pharmaceuticals for human use (ICH). Furthermore, excellent recoveries (70-120%) and high precisions (<20%, expressed as relative standard deviations) were obtained for the analysis of several different drug formulations spiked with the analyzed 37 residual solvents at their respective maximum residue levels.