Projects & Services

Synthesis and purification

Identification and synthesis of impurities

In the Pharmaceutical and Agrochemical fields, the impurities that accompany the active product must be identified and tested. We have done several projects of synthesis of impurities for analytical standards and toxicity trials. This research is performed by our scientists making use of the infrastructure of the University of Barcelona.

First a screening of the comercial sample is performed. The impurities above the allowed concentration are identified and structures are proposed, based on our experience in industrial processes. These compounds are synthesized, purified and characterized through MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR, and their purity is checked through HPLC.

The required quantity of an agrochemical impurity for a 5-batch analysis is between 250 mg and 500 mg. Pharmaceutical impurities can many times only be obtained in smaller amounts on lab scale, due to their lengthy and complicated synthesis.

Bigger quantities can be made in a pilot plant, if they are required for other trials.

For more information, contact us.

Purification of plant extracts

We have purified various plant extracts starting from several hundreds kilograms of plant material. The final products range from standardized solutions to pure solids. Ethanol can be used as solvent. Since every extract has its own complexities, we perform this kind of projects stepwise.

First, we study the process in the laboratory, taking special attention to the scale-up problems that might occur, like filterability, heat stability, etc. This stage produces small samples, so that the customer can check the quality and suggest the improvements that should be made.

Once the main parameters are fixed, several bigger trials are performed to check the scale-up and to supply bigger samples for market exploration.

Finally, we can take care of an industrial production for the commercial quantities.

Industrial processes

Besides the industrial resolution processes, we have also developed industrial synthetic processes for D-(−)-α-PhenylGlycine Chloride Hydrochloride and 2- and 4-Hydroxy-Mandelic acids. The latter ones make use of our fractionation technology. Both products are intermediates for the manufacturing of semisynthetic penicillins.

For more information, contact us.