Determination, solvent extraction, and purification of artemisinin from Artemisia annua L.

In this study, the purification of an extract from Artemisia annua L. using chromatographic methods is studied. In a first step, a screening of different phases and solvents using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was performed. Then, a laboratory-scale high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and transferred to a pilot scale. A reproducibility study based on 120 injections was carried out. The batch process that was developed and the results from a designed continuous simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography were compared based on characteristic process numbers and economy.

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Systematic and Model-Assisted Process Design for the Extraction and Purification of Artemisinin from Artemisia annua L.—Part I: Conceptual Process Design and Cost Estimation

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr6090161 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. 161 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Maximilian Sixt ◽

Axel Schmidt ◽

Fabian Mestmäcker ◽

Maximilian Huter ◽

Lukas Uhlenbrock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Process Design ◽

Cost Estimation ◽

Artemisia Annua ◽

Scale Up ◽

Feasibility Studies ◽

Liquid Extraction ◽

Economic Feasibility ◽

Artemisia Annua L ◽

Systematic Process ◽

Extraction And Purification

The article summarizes a systematic process design for the extraction and purification of artemisinin from annual mugwort (Artemisia annua L.). Artemisinin serves as an anti-malaria drug, therefore, resource-efficient and economic processes for its production are needed. The process design was based on lab-scale experiments and afterwards piloted on miniplant-scale at the institute. In this part of the article, a detailed economic feasibility studies including a reference process as a benchmark the lab-scale process and the pilot-scale process is given. Relevant differences between the different scales are discussed. The details of the respective unit operations (solid-liquid extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, chromatography and crystallization) are presented in dedicated articles. The study showed that even miniaturized lab-scale experiments are able to deliver data detailed enough for scale-up calculations on a theoretical basis. To our knowledge, a comparable systematic process design and piloting was never performed by academia before.

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Systematic and Model-Assisted Process Design for the Extraction and Purification of Artemisinin from Artemisia annua L.—Part IV: Crystallization

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr6100181 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (10) ◽

pp. 181 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Maximilian Huter ◽

Axel Schmidt ◽

Fabian Mestmäcker ◽

Maximilian Sixt ◽

Jochen Strube

Keyword(s):

Process Design ◽

Process Integration ◽

Artemisia Annua ◽

A Priori ◽

Artemisia Annua L ◽

Extraction And Purification ◽

Acetone Water ◽

Total Process ◽

Study Process ◽

Conceptual Process Design

In this study, process integration for crystallization of a priori purified Artemisia annua L. is investigated. For this total process, the integration operation boundaries and behavior of the crystals are studied. This is performed focusing on a conceptual process design study for artemisinin, aiming towards the development of a crystallization step under given parameters by process integration. At first, different crystallization systems consisting of ethanol-water or acetone-water mixtures are compared. In subsequent steps, the metastable zone width and the behavior of the crystals regarding agglomeration and breakage are checked. Furthermore, the sensitivities of process variables based on several process parameters are investigated. Additionally, the final process integration of crystallization as a combined purification and isolation step is studied.

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