Application of Separation Techniques in Medicinal Chemistry

Evaporation

Evaporation is useful for recovering the solute (dissolved substance) from a solution;
however, the solvent is lost. For Example, Getting salt from sea water

Distillation

Getting pure water from sea water. The seawater can be purified in a desalination process in
which the seawater is heated until it boils changing the water to steam but leaving the salt
behind. The steam is collected and condensed back into water. The pure water is then
directed away in pipes, cooled, and collected in a second container.
Distillation is also used to separate a mixture of two or more liquids with different boiling
points. This type of distillation, also known as fractional distillation, is used to refine crude
oil.

Chromatography

Chromatography is used toprepare huge quantities of extremely pure materials, and also to
analyze the purified compounds for trace contaminants. The other applications of
chromatography especially HPLC is used in Protein Separation like Insulin Purification,
Plasma Fractionation and Enzyme Purification.
The food industry uses chromatography to detect contaminants such as aflatoxin.

Centrifugation

Its uses include separating blood components, isolating DNA, and

purifying chemicalsamples. Medium-size centrifuges are common in daily life, mainly to
quickly separate liquids from solids.

Crystallization

Crystallization is often applied in the production of salts and active pharmaceutical

ingredients (API), and the crystallization step is an essential part of the manufacturing
process for many chemicals-based products.
Crystallizing products often drives reactions to completion. Final products are usually
crystallized to control and upgrade quality.

Decantation

Decanting is a process used to separate mixtures, as it allows a mixture of solid and liquid or
two immiscible liquids to settle and separate by gravity. Decantation is frequently used to
purify a liquid by separating it from a suspension of insoluble particles (e.g. in red wine).