This research will result in identification of non-volatile, non-flammable room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL's) to replace the toxic, flammable, volatile organic compound (VOC) solvents used for extraction of antibiotics from fermentation broths. The solvents used for penicillin extraction include methyl isobutyl ketone, amyl acetate, butyl acetate, and chloroform. These solvents are toxic, irritants, volatile, and extremely flammable. RTIL's have attracted significant attention for green chemistry applications. They are ionic compounds that have very large liquids ranges. Some are air and water stable and immiscible with water. They solubilize aromatics and carbonyls particularly well, so should be effective for antibiotics extraction. RTIL's have been studied for liquid-liquid extraction and other separations. Being non-volatile, they are recyclable, and their large liquids ranges allow efficient separations using temperature control. They are non-flammable. They are """"""""tunable"""""""" solvents, as the cations can be substituted and/or paired with different anions to manipulate the properties of the liquids and tailor them for specific applications. The use of RTIL's instead of the toxic, flammable, VOC solvents now used would improve the health and safety of pharmaceutical workers, and reduce costs, since they are straightforward to synthesize, and are recyclable. New processes or equipment would not be required.
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