Selective separation of protein and saccharides by ionic liquids aqueous two-phase systems

In the present work, it was found that aqueous solution of a hydrophilic ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([C₄mim][N(CN)₂]), could be separated into an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) by inorganic salts such as K₂HPO₄ and K₃PO₄. The top phase is IL-rich, while the bottom phase is phosphate-rich. It was shown that 82.7%–100% bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be enriched into the top phase and almost quantitative saccharides (arabinose, glucose, sucrose, raffinose or dextran) were preferentially extracted into the bottom phase in a single-step extraction by [C₄mim][N(CN)₂] + K₂HPO₄ ATPS. The extraction efficiency of BSA from the aqueous saccharide solutions was influenced by the molecular structure of saccharides. The conductivity, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were combined to investigate the microstructure of the IL-rich top phase and the possible mechanism for the selective separation. It is suggested that the formation of the IL aggregate and the IL aggregate-BSA complex plays a significant role in the separation of BSA from aqueous saccharide solutions. This is the first example for the selective separation by ILs-based ATPSs. It is expected that these findings would have potential applications in bio-analysis, separation, and IL recycle.     

Globin chain separation by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Simple screening method for elongated hemoglobin chains

A simple method for the separation of hemoglobin chains from hemolysate or globin, by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, is described. The alpha, beta, and gamma chains can be clearly separated from each other. The alpha chain has the highest mobility, the beta chain has a slower mobility than the gamma chain, while the delta chain has about the same mobility as the beta chain. Hemoglobins with elongated chains can easily be detected by this method. Tak-beta, elongated by 11 residues, moves much more slowly than betaA but is much faster than alpha Constant Spring which is elongated by 31 residues. Screening of several individuals with slow-moving hemoglobins using this method led to the finding of a case with Hb Tak-beta thalassemia and other carriers of Hb Tak.     

Effect of protein denaturation on void fraction in foam separation column

Foam fractionation is a cost-effective process that uses air to extract protein from a liquid (in this case “crude” dilute egg-albumin solution). This article deals with how the void fraction (fraction of air in the aerated solution) of foam is affected by heat denaturation of the protein. A 2-mm glass tube was used to sample the foam-liquid interface fluid in a 35-mm-diameter column in order to detect small changes in void fraction and foam production, which are not easily detected directly from the bulk foam. The main control variablein this study was the protein solution preheating time. As the preheating time increased, the initial void fraction in the column decreased. The initial void fraction of the undenatured solution ranged from about 0.73 to 0.80, and the void fraction for significant preheating times of 5 min ranged from approx 0.68 to 0.72. Furthermore, the period of foam production increased from 5 to 7 min for undenatured proteins in solution to as long 15 min for 5-min preheated solutions. Side-port sampling through a small capillary tube has the potential to be used as a rapid and inexpensive way to determine the level of protein denaturation by directly determining the void fraction and then estimating the effect of denaturation from a protein denaturation calibration curve of the void fraction.     

Phase separation of a model binary polymer solution in an external field

The phase separation of a simple binary mixture of incompatible linear polymers in solution is investigated using an extension of the sedimentation equilibrium method, whereby the osmotic pressure of the mixture is extracted from the density profiles of the inhomogeneous mixture in a gravitational field. In Monte Carlo simulations the field can be tuned to induce significant inhomogeneity, while keeping the density profiles sufficiently smooth for the macroscopic condition of hydrostatic equilibrium to remain applicable. The method is applied here for a simplified model of ideal but mutually avoiding polymers, which readily phase separate at relatively low densities. The Monte Carlo data are interpreted with the help of an approximate bulk phase diagram calculated from a simple, second-order virial coefficient theory. By derivation of effective potentials between polymer centers of mass, the binary mixture of polymers is coarse-grained to a "soft colloid" picture reminiscent of the Widom-Rowlinson model for incompatible atomic mixtures. This approach significantly speeds up the simulations and accurately reproduces the behavior of the full monomer resolved model.     

Selective adsorption and separation of Cu(II) from Zn solution by CU resin

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The aim of present study was to determine the efficiency of CU selective resin for separation of radionuclides Cu from large excess of Zn....     

Enantiomer separation by enantioselective inclusion complexation–organic solvent nanofiltration

A novel chiral separation process, which utilizes a combination of enantioselective inclusion complexation (EIC) and organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN), was developed. Although EIC is an attractive way to resolve racemates, the difficulties associated with enantiomer recovery and chiral host recycle has limited large-scale applications. EIC coupled with OSN replaces distillation for the recovery of enantiomers from enantioenriched solid complex. A decomplexation solvent is employed to dissociate enantiomers from the complex, and subsequent separation of enantiomers from the chiral host is realized using OSN. The new process was investigated using racemic 1-phenylethanol as the guest and (R,R)-TADDOL as the chiral host. This novel technology expands the application of EIC to the resolution of nonvolatile racemates, and enables large-scale application.     

CE to monitor endotoxins by protein complexation

A new CE method for fast and efficient analysis of bacterial endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides) is described. It is based on the strong interaction between proteins and endotoxins. The UV absorption of the protein component in the complex is used for the detection. The electrophoretic mobility of the complex hemoglobin/endotoxin can be employed for qualitative analysis of the endotoxin. For instance, the structural differences between "smooth" and "rough" lipopolysaccharides from Salmonella minnesota (wild-type), Salmonella minnesota R595 and Shigella sonnei R562H are reflected in the electrophoretic mobilities of their hemoglobin complex.     

Room temperature solution studies of complexation between o-chloranil and a series of anilines by spectrophotometric method.

Electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex formation between o-chloranil and a series of anilines has been studied in CCl4 medium. In all the cases, EDA complexes are formed instantaneously on mixing the donor and acceptor solutions. N,N-dimethylaniline and N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine form stable EDA complexes with o-chloranil while the other complexes decay slowly into secondary products. The kinetics of all these reactions has been studied by UV-VIS absorption spectrophotometric method and the rate constants of the reactions and formation constants of the EDA complexes have been determined. The charge transfer (CT) transition energies of the complexes are found to change systematically with change in the number and position of the methyl groups in the donor molecules (methylanilines). From an analysis of this variation, the electron affinity of o-chloranil has been found to be 2.54 eV. A perturbational inductive effect Hückel parameter hMe has been found from this trend and the value obtained (-0.27) is very close to that (-0.3) obtained by Lepley (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 86 (1964) 2545) from a study of tetracyano ethylene (TCNE)-methylbenzene complexes.     

Extractive separation of lower valent vanadium by complexation with picolinic acid

Summary Vanadium (III), obtained by sodium dithionite reduction of vanadium (V), forms a coloured complex with picolinic acid which is extracted into chloroform from slightly acidic medium. The method is free from interference by relatively high concentrations of analytical important elements such as iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, copper, titanium, aluminium, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten and uranium. The proposed method of separation is simple and rapid and its applicability has been tested by the satisfactory recovery of vanadium from a variety of synthetic and natural samples.     

Selective complexation of metals with isoxazolidine-containing fluorophores

A series of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition products of functionalized nitrones with 1,3-propene sultone and maleimide was synthesized through a multi-step scheme. Their fluorescent response to different metal ions was examined. Selective quenching of the fluorescent materials by Cu(II), Fe(III), and Ru(III) in acetonitrile was demonstrated, providing access to new chemosensor design for selected transition metals.     

Selective separation of water–alcohol binary mixture through poly(maleimide-co-acrylonitrile) membrane

Separation of various alcohols and water through a membrane was carried out by means of a hydrogen-bonding interaction. A membrane obtained from poly(maleimide-co-acrylonitrile) was effective for a selective separation of water from aqueous alcohol solution by pervaporation technique. Spectroscopic analyses verified that this high selectivity was attributed to the hydrogen-bonding interaction between water and maleimide units in the membrane.     

Selective optical trapping and deposition of polymer and aromatic molecules from binary mixed solution

We have demonstrated size-selective optical trapping and deposition of polymer and aromatic molecules from binary mixed solution. As a near-infrared laser beam is tightly focused in polystyrene and perylene mixed solution and dropped on a glass substrate, a molecular assembly is deposited at the laser focus and fixed on the substrate. The fluorescence spectrum of the deposited microassembly depends on the laser power; perylene monomer fluorescence is dominant in the case of high laser power, whereas excimer emission of perylene crystal is observed in the case of low laser power. This suggests that polystyrene molecules are preferentially deposited by focusing a higher laser power so that the ratio of polystyrene and perylene in the assembly can be controlled by laser power. This mechanism can be explained in view of the molecular size selectivity in optical trapping.     

The separation of tellurium and selenium by polyurethane foam sorbents

Tellurium and selenium can be sorbed from hydrochloric acid and hydrobromic acid solution by both polyether and polyester-based polyurethane foam. Although some acid is needed, the substitution of sodium chloride or sodium bromide increases the extraction significantly. Tellurium is extracted rapidly with > 99% sorbed in 2 min from 1.0/5.0M and 2.0/4.0M hydrochloric acid/sodium bromide. Selenium can also be sorbed quantitatively but much more slowly so that a separation is possible based on the relative rates of extraction. The capacity of polyether foam is 3% by weight of tellurium.     

Reaction control by a host-guest complexation method

Very successful stereo-, regio-, and enantio-controls of the photoreaction of a guest compound were achieved by irradiation of the host-guest complex in the solid state. In order to discover the reason for the successful control, the X-ray crystal structure of the complex was studied. The complexation method was also effective to freeze the equilibrium in solution and isolate the labile tautomeric isomer as an inclusion complex.     

Preconcentration and separation of acaricides by polyether based polyurethane foam

This paper reports the preconcentration of some dissolved organic phosphorous and chlorinated acaricides in water by porous polyether based polyurethane foam. Preliminary screening tests on the retention of the tested compounds, i.e., dicofol and bromopropylate, by polyether foams indicated that a very high percent removal of the tested species was obtained. The retention rate was found fast and reaches equilibrium in a few minutes. The various parameters, e.g., pH, extraction media, shaking time, salt effect, temperature and sample volumes affecting the preconcentration of the tested species by the unloaded foam, trioctylamine and trimethylphosphate treated foam have been optimized via batch modes of separation. The unloaded foams were employed in column modes for the retention and recovery of the tested species. The sorption efficiency and recovery of the compounds by the unloaded foams column were found to be up to 97.5%. The height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP) obtained by the unloaded foam was found to be in the range 1.1-1.3 ± 0.2 mm. The sorption mechanism of the tested compounds by the foams was discussed.     

Dynamic light‐scattering measurement of sieving polymer solutions for protein separation on SDS CE

We evaluated the mesh size and homogeneity of polymer network by dynamic light scattering and discussed the relationship between the physical properties of polymer network and the protein separation behavior by capillary polymer electrophoresis. We compared three kinds of sieving polymers in solutions with a wide range of molecular weights and concentrations: polyacrylamide and polyethylene oxide as flexible polymers, and hydroxyethyl cellulose as a semiflexible polymer. We found that the mobility of protein was dominated primarily by the mesh size ξ, irrespective of the type of sieving polymers, and the peak spacing between protein peaks increased drastically in the range of ξ<10 nm, where the mobility also decreased. And the peak widths were dependent on the molecular species of sieving polymers and their homogeneity of polymer network. We proposed that a polymer network with a homogenous mesh size of less than 10 nm is the best sieving medium for separation of the proteins in the molecular weight range 14 300–97 200 Da from the view point of the resolution in protein separation.     

Selective separation of pyrite and chalcopyrite by biomodulation

Selective separation of pyrite from other associated ferrous sulphides at acidic and neutral pH has been a challenging problem. This paper discusses the utility of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans for the selective flotation of chalcopyrite from pyrite. Consequent to interaction with bacterial cells, pyrite remained depressed even in the presence of potassium isopropyl xanthate collector while chalcopyrite exhibited significant flotability. However, when the minerals were conditioned together, the selectivity achieved was poor due to the activation of pyrite surface by the copper ions in solution. The selectivity was improved when the sequence of conditioning with bacterial cells and collector was reversed, since the bacterial cells were able to depress collector interacted pyrite effectively, while having negligible effect on chalcopyrite. The observed behaviour is analysed and discussed in detail. The separation obtained was significant both at acidic and alkaline pH. This selectivity achieved was retained when the minerals were interacted with both bacterial cells and collector simultaneously.     

Rare earth element complexation by fluoride ions in aqueous solution

Rare earth fluoride stability constants for Ce, Eu, Gd, Tb and Yb at 25°C have been determined by examining the influence of fluoride ions on the distribution of rare earths between tributyl phosphate (TBP) and 0.68M NaClO₄. Our results indicate that rare earth mono and difluoro complexation constants show a steady increase as a function of atomic number from La to Tb but remain relatively constant after Dy. This behavior is similar to that which has been observed for dicarboxylic acids. Stepwise stability constant ratios, K₂/K₁, obtained in our work (where K₁=[MF²⁺][M³⁺]^–1[F^–]^–1 and K₂=[MF ₂ ⁺ ]^–1[MF²⁺]^–1[F^–]^–1) indicated that, for all rare earths, K₂/K₁=0.09±0.03.     

Fluoride ion complexation by a cationic borane in aqueous solution

The phosphonium borane [p-Mes(2)B(C(6)H(4))PMePh(2)](+) complexes fluoride in water containing 10% methanol with a binding constant of 1.0(+/-0.1) x 10(3) M(-1) to afford the zwitterion p-Mes(2)FB(C(6)H(4))PMePh(2).