High-Throughput Extractions: A New Paradigm for Workup Optimization in Pharmaceutical Process Development

A Coalescing Filter for Liquid-Liquid Separation and Multistage Extraction in Continuous-Flow Chemistry

Presented here is the design and performance of a coalescing liquid-liquid filter, based on low-cost and readily available meltblown nonwoven substrates for separation of immiscible phases. The performance of the coalescer was determined across three broad classes of fluid mixtures: (i) immiscible organic/aqueous systems, (ii) a surfactant laden organic/aqueous system with modification of the type of emulsion and interfacial surface tension through the addition of sodium chloride, and (iii) a water-acetone/toluene system. The first two classes demonstrated good performance of the equipment in effecting separation, including the separation of a complex emulsion system for which a membrane separator, operating through transport of a preferentially wetting fluid through the membrane, failed entirely. The third system was used to demonstrate the performance of the separator within a multistage liquid-liquid counterflow extraction system. The performance, robust nature, and scalability of coalescing filters should mean that this approach is routinely considered for liquid-liquid separations and extractions within the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

Determining Phase Separation Dynamics with an Automated Image Processing Algorithm

The problems of extracting products efficiently from reaction workups are often overlooked. Issues such as emulsions and rag layer formation can cause long separation times and slow production, thus resulting in manufacturing inefficiencies. To better understand science within this area and to support process development, an image processing methodology has been developed that can automatically track the interface between liquid-liquid phases and provide a quantitative measure of the separation rate of two immiscible liquids. The algorithm is automated and has been successfully applied to 29 cases. Its robustness has been demonstrated with a variety of different liquid mixtures that exhibit a wide range of separation behavior-making such an algorithm suited to high-throughput experimentation. The information gathered from applying the algorithm shows how issues resulting from poor separations can be detected early in process development.

End-to-End Automated Synthesis of C(sp3)-Enriched Drug-like Molecules via Negishi Coupling and Novel, Automated Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Herein, we report an end-to-end process including synthesis, work-up, purification, and post-purification with minimal human intervention using Negishi coupling as a key transformation to increase Fsp3 in bioactive molecules. The main advantages of this protocol are twofold. First, the automated sequential generation of organozinc reagents from readily available alkyl halides offers a large diversity of alkyl groups to functionalize (hetero)aryl halide scaffolds via Pd-catalyzed Negishi coupling in continuous flow. Second, a fully automated liquid-liquid extraction has been developed and successfully applied for unattended operations. The workflow was completed with mass-triggered preparative high-performance liquid chromatography HPLC, providing an efficient production line of compounds with enriched sp3 character and better drug-like properties. The modular nature allows a smooth adaptation to a wide variety of synthetic methods and protocols and makes it applicable to any medchem laboratory.

Automated high throughput pKa and distribution coefficient measurements of pharmaceutical compounds for the SAMPL8 blind prediction challenge

The goal of the Statistical Assessment of the Modeling of Proteins and Ligands (SAMPL) challenge is to improve the accuracy of current computational models to estimate free energy of binding, deprotonation, distribution and other associated physical properties that are useful for the design of new pharmaceutical products. New experimental datasets of physicochemical properties provide opportunities for prospective evaluation of computational prediction methods. Here, aqueous pK_a and a range of bi-phasic logD values for a variety of pharmaceutical compounds were determined through a streamlined automated process to be utilized in the SAMPL8 physical property challenge. The goal of this paper is to provide an in-depth review of the experimental methods utilized to create a comprehensive data set for the blind prediction challenge. The significance of this work involves the use of high throughput experimentation equipment and instrumentation to produce acid dissociation constants for twenty-three drug molecules, as well as distribution coefficients for eleven of those molecules.

Selective separation of amines from continuous processes using automated pH controlled extraction

An automated separation system is described for identifying the optimal conditions for purifying an amine from a mixture.

Selective functionalization of complex heterocycles via an automated strong base screening platform

An automated high throughput screening approach to optimizing strong base-mediated metalations.