Interfacing supercritical fluid reaction apparatus with on-line liquid chromatography: monitoring the progress of a synthetic organic reaction performed in supercritical fluid solution.

An interface has been developed that connects a supercritical fluid reaction (SFR) vessel directly on-line to a liquid chromatograph. The combined SFR-LC system has enabled the progress of the esterification reaction between phenol and benzoyl chloride to synthesize phenyl benzoate in supercritical fluid carbon dioxide solution to be dynamically monitored. This was achieved by the periodic SFR-LC analysis of samples directly withdrawn from the esterification reaction mixture.

Sustainable oil-in-water analysis using a supercritical fluid carbon dioxide extraction system directly interfaced with infrared spectroscopy.

A direct aqueous supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) system using carbon dioxide provides a sustainable means by which a vast range of industries may continue to depend on well established infrared (IR) techniques to determine oil-in-water. The SFE-IR method provides an environmentally friendly substitute for current national standard IR reference methods for measuring oil-in-water that rely on using increasingly restricted ozone depleting solvents whose manufacture is being phased out in accordance with international law. The SFE-IR analysis of a 500 mL water sample can be accomplished in 15 min.

Direct aqueous supercritical fluid extraction coupled on-line with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of polyether ionophore antibiotics in water.

A direct aqueous SFE system designed to extract water samples contained in vials has been coupled on-line with a reverse phase LC-MS-MS system using a single 10-port valve. An SFE trap system using C(1) stationary phase connected to a C(18) analytical HPLC column enabled the SFE-LC-MS-MS analysis of three polyether ionophore antibiotics in water using a step gradient. A quantitative SFE-LC-MS-MS method has been developed whereby the progress of SFE can be monitored directly on-line such that ionophore recovery profile data from a single water sample can be obtained.

Mini-review: green sustainable processes using supercritical fluid carbon dioxide.

Environmentally benign carbon dioxide offers significant potential in its supercritical fluid phase to replace current reliance on a range of hazardous, relatively expensive and environmentally damaging organic solvents that are used on an extensive global basis. The unique combination of the physical properties of supercritical fluids are being exploited and further researched to continue the development and establishment of high efficiency, compact plant to provide energy and water efficient manufacturing processes. This mini-review is focused on the use and potential applications of supercritical fluid carbon dioxide for a selected range of key and emerging industrial processes as a sustainable alternative to totally eliminate or greatly reduce the requirement of numerous conventional organic solvents.