Abstract

Compared with other sectors, the pharmaceutical industry generates the largest amount of chemical waste per mass of desired products due to significant solvent losses. For example, the pharmaceutical industry consumes 50% of the globally produced acetonitrile, an organic solvent made from non-renewable petrochemical sources, of which 20% is used for liquid chromatography, generating approximately 15 kt of waste acetonitrile per year. After its use for analysis, acetonitrile is discarded as chemical waste, which goes for incineration and generates greenhouse gases and hazardous chemicals. As a winning solution for the AstraZeneca CoSolve scheme aiming to develop novel solutions for organic solvent recycling from research and development processes, the Aston team will work on substituting acetonitrile with a green solvent – ethyl lactate. Ethyl lactate is a hydrophilic green solvent with low toxicity that is generally recognised as safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is produced from biorenewable sources, lactic acid and ethanol, both obtained from biomass fermentation. Furthermore, ethyl lactate readily biodegrades without forming hazardous chemicals at the end of its life cycle. This project aims to build on previous work at Aston University to substitute hazardous organic solvents for analysis of widely produced antibiotics with more environmentally friendly alternatives. In addition to focusing on the analytical methods' resolution, reproducibility and accuracy, the project will also evaluate energy and carbon footprint savings. From a broader perspective, this project will directly address the principles of Green Chemistry, namely the use of safer solvents and renewable feedstocks, prevention and reduction of waste.