Non-toxic Diluents Research Articles

Natural Nontoxic Solvents for Recovery of Picolinic Acid by Reactive Extraction

Pyridine carboxylic acids and their derivatives are attracting considerable attention for their presence in many natural products. 2-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, also known as picolinic acid is widely used in the pharmaceutical industries. Compared to chemical methods, enzymatic oxidation of 3-hydroxyanthranillic acid is an advantageous alternative for the production of picolinic acid. Reactive extraction is a promising method to recover carboxylic acid but suffers from toxicity problems of the diluent and extractant employed, therefore there is a need for a nontoxic extractant and diluent or a combination of less toxic extractants in a nontoxic diluent that can recover acid efficiently. The present paper focuses on the reactive extraction of picolinic acid using tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in sunflower oil and castor oil. Results were presented in terms of distribution coefficients (0.0066 to 0.664 for sunflower oil and 0.0099 to 0.94 for castor oil), loading ratio (<0.5), degree of extraction (0.65 to 42.9%...

Reactive extraction of itaconic acid using tri-n-butyl phosphate and aliquat 336 in sunflower oil as a non-toxic diluent

Itaconic acid finds a place in various industrial applications. It can be produced by biocultivation in a clean and environment friendly route but recovery of the acid from the dilute stream of the bioreactor is an economic problem. Reactive extraction is a promising method to recover carboxylic acid but suffers from toxicity problems of the diluent and extractant employed. So there is need for a non-toxic extractant and diluent or a combination of less toxic extractants in a non-toxic diluent that can recover acid efficiently. Effect of different extractants: tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP) (an organophosporous compound) and Aliquat 336 (a quaternary amine) in sunflower oil was studied to find the best extractant–sunflower oil combination. Equilibrium complexation constant, KE, values of 1.789 and 2.385 m3 kmol−1, respectively, were obtained for itaconic acid extraction using TBP and Aliquat 336 in sunflower oil. The problem of toxicity in reactive extraction can be reduced by using a natural non-toxic diluent (sunflower oil) with the extractant. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry