Ultraselective Macrocycle Membranes for Pharmaceutical Ingredients Separation in Organic Solvents.

Separations are core processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Several steps of fractionation and purification of multicomponent mixtures are required. Membrane technology can operate at fair temperatures, saving energy and processing sensitive compounds.

Bio-Inspired Robust Membranes Nanoengineered from Interpenetrating Polymer Networks of Polybenzimidazole/Polydopamine.

Marine mussel inspired polydopamine (PDA) has received increased attention due to its good thermal and chemical stability as well as strong adhesion on most materials. In this work, high-performance nanofiltration membranes based on interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) incorporating PDA and polybenzimidazole (PBI) were developed for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). Generally, in order to obtain solvent stability, polymers need to be covalently cross-linked under harsh conditions, which inevitably leads to losses in permeability and mechanical flexibility.

Biomimetic Synthesis of Drug Metabolites in Batch and Continuous-Flow Reactors.

A medium-throughput screening (MTS) of biomimetic drug metabolite synthesis is developed by using an iron porphyrin catalyst. The microplate method, in combination with HPLC-MS analysis, was shown to be a useful tool for process development and parameter optimization in the production of targeted metabolites and/or oxidation products of forty-three different drug substances. In the case of the biomimetic oxidation of amiodarone, the high quantity and purity of the isolated products enabled detailed HRMS and NMR spectroscopic studies.