Microwave-assisted separations using volatiles
DCFirst Claim
1. In a method for the microwave extraction of at least one natural product from a biological material, said method consisting in:
- placing said biological material in an enclosure without any solvent,making said biological material present in said enclosure undergo microwave irradiation in order to prompt the evaporation of at least a part of the water contained in said biological material, so as to enable the release of at least a part of said natural product,separating the residual biological material from the extracted natural product,the improvement wherein said method includes the steps ofcyclically intermittently applying reduced pressure within said enclosure during said step for the application of microwaves,heating said enclosure during at least the essential part of said step for the application of microwaves, the combination of said steps for the application of the microwaves, the application of reduced pressure within the enclosure and the heating of the enclosure permitting the volatilization of said natural product from said biological material.
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Abstract
The generation of volatiles from liquid or solid materials is enhanced and accelerated by exposure to microwave radiation. Normally the energy transfer is effected preferentially toward the liquid or solid materials over the generated gaseous volatiles. Sufficient energy is provided at a selected rate that enhances the generation of volatiles to effect removal as vapor or to produce a pressurized vapor phase. Flow-through separations from a matrix having a microwave-absorbing liquid component are conducted by exposing to microwave radiation to vaporize this component and processing the vapor either by flowing through a selective permeable membrane, or by enclosing the vapor and matrix in a confined space and flowing matrix through a selected separation medium, and recovering residual matrix. These separations are particularly useful in analysis contexts.
44 Citations
15 Claims
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1. In a method for the microwave extraction of at least one natural product from a biological material, said method consisting in:
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placing said biological material in an enclosure without any solvent, making said biological material present in said enclosure undergo microwave irradiation in order to prompt the evaporation of at least a part of the water contained in said biological material, so as to enable the release of at least a part of said natural product, separating the residual biological material from the extracted natural product, the improvement wherein said method includes the steps of cyclically intermittently applying reduced pressure within said enclosure during said step for the application of microwaves, heating said enclosure during at least the essential part of said step for the application of microwaves, the combination of said steps for the application of the microwaves, the application of reduced pressure within the enclosure and the heating of the enclosure permitting the volatilization of said natural product from said biological material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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10. A method of microwave extraction of at least a natural product from a biological material containing volatilizable components, comprising
providing a matrix of biological material having volatilizable components dispersed therein, treating said matrix with microwave energy to effect volatilization of at least one of the volatilizable components from the biological material, cyclically intermittently applying reduced pressure during the microwave treatment, and separating at least one volatilized component to obtain at least one natural product from the biological material.
Specification