Sónia P. M. Ventura

Evaluation of Anion Influence on the Formation and Extraction Capacity of Ionic-Liquid-Based Aqueous Biphasic Systems

Extractive fermentation using aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) is a promising separation process since it provides a nondenaturing environment for biomolecules and improves the stability of cells. Due to environmental concerns and toxicity issues related with common volatile organic solvents, ionic liquids (ILs), a new class of nonvolatile alternative solvents, are being currently investigated for extraction purposes. In this work, a wide range of imidazolium-based ILs was studied aiming at obtaining new insights regarding their ability toward the formation of ABS and their capacity to the extraction of biomolecules. On the basis of the IL cations 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, the IL anion influence on ABS formation was assessed through their combination with chloride, bromide, acetate, hydrogensulfate, methanesulfonate, methylsulfate, ethylsulfate, trifluomethanesulfonate, trifluoroacetate, and dicyanamide. Ternary phase diagrams (and respective tie-lines) formed by these hydrophilic ILs, water, and the inorganic salt K(3)PO(4), were measured and are reported. The results indicate that the ability of an IL to induce ABS closely follows the decrease in the hydrogen bond accepting strength or the increase in the hydrogen bond acidity of the IL anion. In addition, the extraction capacity of the studied ABS was evaluated through their application to the extraction of an essential amino acid, L-tryptophan. It is shown that the partition coefficients obtained between the IL and the K(3)PO(4)-aqueous rich phases were substantially larger than those typically obtained with polymers-inorganic salts or polymers-polysaccharides aqueous systems.

Toxicity assessment of various ionic liquid families towards Vibrio fischeri marine bacteria

The increasing interest on the application of ionic liquids (ILs) to a wide range of processes and products has been hampered by a lack of toxicological data, mainly in what concerns novel cations, such as guanidinium, phosphonium, and functionalized and non-functionalized imidazolium-based ILs. The present study reports the toxicity of five guanidinium-, six phosphonium, and six imidazolium-based ILs, towards the luminescent marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri. These new results clearly show that guanidinium-, unlike the imidazolium- and phosphonium-based ILs, do not follow the trend of increasing toxicity with the increase in the alkyl chain length. Moreover, the introduction of oxygenated groups on the alkyl chains, such as ether and ester, leads to a decrease of the toxicity of guanidinium and also imidazolium compounds. In what respects the effect of the different cations, it is possible to recognize that the phosphonium-based ILs seem to be more toxic when compared to the analog imidazolium-based ILs (with the same anion and alkyl chains).

Designing ionic liquids: the chemical structure role in the toxicity

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a novel class of solvents with interesting physicochemical properties. Many different applications have been reported for ILs as alternatives to organic solvents in chemical and bioprocesses. Despite the argued advantage of having low vapor pressure, even the most hydrophobic ILs show some degree of solubility in water, allowing their dispersion into aquatic systems and raising concerns on its pollutant potential. Moreover, nowadays most widespread notion concerning the ILs toxicity is that there is a direct relationship with their hydrophobicity/lipophilicity. This work aims at enlarging the currently limited knowledge on ILs toxicity by addressing negative impacts in aquatic ecosystems and investigating the possibility of designing hydrophobic ILs of low ecotoxicity, by the manipulation of their chemical structures. The impact of aromaticity on the toxicity of different cations (pyridinium, piperidinium, pyrrolidinium and imidazolium) and hydrophobic anions (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [NTf2] and hexafluorophosphate [PF6]) was analysed. Concomitantly, several imidazolium-based ILs of the type [CnCmCjim][NTf2] were also studied to evaluate the effects of the position of the alkyl chain on the ILs’ toxicity. For that purpose, standard assays were performed using organisms of different trophic levels, Vibrio fischeri, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Daphnia magna, allowing to evaluate the consistency of the structure–activity relationships across different biological targets. The results here reported suggest the possibility of designing ILs with an enhanced hydrophobic character and lower toxicity, by elimination of their aromatic nature.

Production and purification of an extracellular lipolytic enzyme using ionic liquid-based aqueous two-phase systems

The ability of ionic liquid-based aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) to purify lipase produced by fermentation is here evaluated and compared against conventional PEG-based ATPS systems. Four ionic liquids, chosen after screening of a larger number of ionic liquids are evaluated, with the maximum purification and higher recovery being obtained for the systems based on [C8mim]Cl. It is shown that IL-based ATPS have a performance superior to PEG-based ATPS for the purification of this enzyme.

Ionic-Liquid-Mediated Extraction and Separation Processes for Bioactive Compounds: Past, Present, and Future Trends

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been proposed as promising media for the extraction and separation of bioactive compounds from the most diverse origins. This critical review offers a compilation on the main results achieved by the use of ionic-liquid-based processes in the extraction and separation/purification of a large range of bioactive compounds (including small organic extractable compounds from biomass, lipids, and other hydrophobic compounds, proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and pharmaceuticals). ILs have been studied as solvents, cosolvents, cosurfactants, electrolytes, and adjuvants, as well as used in the creation of IL-supported materials for separation purposes. The IL-based processes hitherto reported, such as IL-based solid–liquid extractions, IL-based liquid–liquid extractions, IL-modified materials, and IL-based crystallization approaches, are here reviewed and compared in terms of extraction and separation performance. The key accomplishments and future challenges to the field are discussed, with particular emphasis on the major lacunas found within the IL community dedicated to separation processes and by suggesting some steps to overcome the current limitations.

Design of ionic liquids for lipase purification.

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) are considered as efficient downstream processing techniques in the production and purification of enzymes, since they can be considered harmless to biomolecules due to their high water content and due to the possibility of maintaining a neutral pH value in the medium. A recent type of alternative ATPS is based on hydrophilic ionic liquids (ILs) and salting-out inducing salts. The aim of this work was to study the lipase (Candida antarctica lipase B - CaLB) partitioning in several ATPS composed of ionic liquids (ILs) and inorganic salts, and to identify the best IL for the enzyme purification. For that purpose a wide range of IL cations and anions, and some of their combinations were studied. For each system the enzyme partitioning between the two phases was measured and the purification factors and enzyme recoveries were determined. The results indicate that the lipase maximum purification and recovery were obtained for cations with a C(8) side alkyl chain, the [N(CN)(2)] anion and ILs belonging to the pyridinium family. However, the highest purification parameters were observed for 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium chloride [C(8)mim]Cl, suggesting that the IL extraction capability does not result from a cumulative character of the individual characteristics of ILs. The results indicate that the IL based ATPS have an improved performance in the lipase purification and recovery.

Understanding the impact of the central atom on the ionic liquid behavior: Phosphonium vs ammonium cations

The influence of the cations central atom in the behavior of pairs of ammonium- and phosphonium-based ionic liquids was investigated through the measurement of densities, viscosities, melting temperatures, activity coefficients at infinite dilution, refractive indices, and toxicity against Vibrio fischeri. All the properties investigated are affected by the cations central atom nature, with ammonium-based ionic liquids presenting higher densities, viscosities, melting temperatures, and enthalpies. Activity coefficients at infinite dilution show the ammonium-based ionic liquids to present slightly higher infinite dilution activity coefficients for non-polar solvents, becoming slightly lower for polar solvents, suggesting that the ammonium-based ionic liquids present somewhat higher polarities. In good agreement these compounds present lower toxicities than the phosphonium congeners. To explain this behavior quantum chemical gas phase DFT calculations were performed on isolated ion pairs at the BP-TZVP level of theory. Electronic density results were used to derive electrostatic potentials of the identified minimum conformers. Electrostatic potential-derived CHelpG and Natural Population Analysis charges show the P atom of the tetraalkylphosphonium-based ionic liquids cation to be more positively charged than the N atom in the tetraalkylammonium-based analogous IL cation, and a noticeable charge delocalization occurring in the tetraalkylammonium cation, when compared with the respective phosphonium congener. It is argued that this charge delocalization is responsible for the enhanced polarity observed on the ammonium based ionic liquids explaining the changes in the thermophysical properties observed.

Novel biocompatible and self-buffering ionic liquids for biopharmaceutical applications.

Antibodies obtained from egg yolk of immunized hens, immunoglobulin Y (IgY), are an alternative to the most focused mammal antibodies, because they can be obtained in higher titers by less invasive approaches. However, the production cost of high-quality IgY for large-scale applications remains higher than that of other drug therapies due to the lack of efficient purification methods. The search for new purification platforms is thus vital. The solution could be liquid-liquid extraction by using aqueous biphasic systems (ABS). Herein, we report the extraction and attempted purification of IgY from chicken egg yolk by using a new ABS composed of polymers and Goods buffer ionic liquids (GB-ILs). New self-buffering and biocompatible ILs based on the cholinium cation and anions derived from Goods buffers were synthesized and the self-buffering characteristics and toxicity were characterized. Moreover, when these GB-ILs are combined with PPG 400 (poly(propylene) glycol with a molecular weight of 400 g mol(-1)) to form ABS, extraction efficiencies, of the water-soluble fraction of proteins, ranging between 79 and 94% were achieved in a single step. Based on computational investigations, we also demonstrate that the preferential partitioning of IgY for the GB-IL-rich phase is dominated by hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions.

Environmental safety of cholinium-based ionic liquids: assessing structure-ecotoxicity relationships

Ionic liquids (ILs) are innovative solvents that can be tuned for their specific application through the selection, or functionalization, of the cation and the anion. Although the cation has been assumed as the main driver of toxicity, the importance of the anion must not be underestimated. This study considers a series of cholinium based ILs aiming at assessing the effects of the functionalization of the cation and the anion on their ecotoxicity. These effects were assessed using three biological models, the microalgae Raphidocelis subcapitata, the macrophyte Lemna minor and the cladoceran Daphnia magna, representing aquatic ecosystems, a major putative recipient of ILs due to their high water solubility. Since the toxicity trends fluctuated depending on the biological model, the results were integrated with previous data through a species sensitivity distribution approach in an attempt to provide a useful safety variable for the design of eco-friendlier ILs. The results reported here challenge some heuristic rules previously proposed for the design of ILs, in particular in what concerns the side-chain effect for the cholinium ILs, and the notion that cholinium-based ILs are inherently safe and less environmentally hazardous than most conventional solvents. Moreover, it was confirmed that structural changes in the ILs promote differences in toxicity highlighting the importance of the role of the anion in their toxicity. Different biological systems yielded different toxicity trends across the IL series tested, also distinct from previous data retrieved with the bacteria V. fischeri; such a novel integration effort challenges the suitability of establishing structure–ecotoxicity relationships for cholinium-based IL design. Overall, this study reinforces the need to perform complete ecotoxicological characterisation before assuming ILs as suitable, environmentally compatible, alternative solvents.

Lipase purification using ionic liquids as adjuvants in aqueous two-phase systems

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) are efficient, environmentally friendly, and “biocompatible” separation processes, which allow the recovery of enzymes. The most common systems are based on polymers and salts, and recently, to overcome the low polarity difference between the phases of the polymeric systems, ATPS based on ionic liquids (ILs) were proposed and have been successfully applied in this field. This work discusses the use of imidazolium-based ILs not as phase forming compounds but as adjuvants (5 wt%) in ATPS of polyethylene glycol systems (1500, 4000, 6000 and 8000 g mol−1) with potassium phosphate buffer at pH 7, in the extraction and purification of a lipase produced by submerged fermentation by Bacillus sp. ITP-001. An initial optimization study was carried out with the commercial lipase B from Candida antarctica (CaLB) allowing us to further purify the commercial CaLB (purification factor = 5.2). Using the optimized conditions, a purification factor of 245 for the lipase from Bacillus sp. ITP-001 was achieved with 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride. The high purification factor is a consequence of the favorable interactions between the IL and the contaminant proteins that migrate for the PEG-rich phase, where the IL also concentrates preferentially, while the enzyme remains in the salt-rich phase.