Preparative Chromatography –A GREEN Approach In the Pharmaceutical Industry

The “Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry” objective in the pharmaceutical industry is to select   synthetic routes that are efficient economically but also responsible to the environment.  Chemists and engineers are asked to develop process schemes that are intrinsically safe, energy efficient, and that maximize the usage of raw materials with the least number of process steps by generating the least amount of waste. Preparative chromatography is an essential technology which provides the tools to fulfill this objective. Chemists and engineers are already familiar with chromatographic techniques due to their extensive implementation in sample analyses, first isolation of chemical entities and their related impurities and impurity removal.  

In this presentation, we will discuss through examples how implementing preparative chromatography can benefit pharmaceutical routes by reducing process waste, and by improving yields and energy efficiency. To support our hypothesis, the environmental impact of chromatographic processes is compared to alternative techniques by applying the E factor and the solvent intensity factor. These factors are defined as the ratio of the waste to the quantity of product and as ratio of solvent used per kg product, respectively.