Microwaves

Effects of wetting and drying conditions on micromeritic, mechanical and disintegration properties of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) pellets were evaluated. Extrusion/spheronization and three drying methods (fluidized bed, microwaves, and freeze drying) were applied using two wetting liquids (water or water-isopropanol 60:40 w/w) and three MCC types: (standard, silicified, and modified). Additionally, the effects of drying method were compared on highly porous pellets prepared by the incorporation and extraction of pore former (NaCl). It was found that the drying method has the greatest effect on the pellet size and porosity followed by the wetting liquid. The modification of MCC resulted in reduced water retention ability, implying hornification, increased porosity, reduced resistance to deformation and tensile strength of pellets. The disintegration time also decreased markedly due to the modification but only in the low porosity range <37%. Silicification increased greatly the disintegration time of the low porosity pellets (<14%). Combination of water-isopropanol, freeze drying and modified MCC gave the greatest increase in pellet size and porosity. The increase in pellet porosity caused exponential reduction in the resistance to deformation, tensile strength and disintegration time, as expected. Compared to fluidized bed, the freeze drying resulted in 20-30% higher porosity for pellets prepared without pore former and 6% for those with pore former, indicating the possibility of preparing highly porous pellets by employing freeze drying.

Water, under microwave irradiation and at a temperature of 473 K, reaches pressures above 16 bar, being capable to act as catalyst, without the use of organic solvents and oxidants, for meso-substituted porphyrin synthesis. Sustainability of the reaction is proved by E Factor=35 and EcoScale value of 50.5, the highest so far obtained for porphyrin synthesis. Methodology's wide versatility is clearly demonstrated by the good yields obtained for both aryl and alkyl substituted porphyrins. These reaction conditions represent a huge development, not only by using very high concentrations, minimizing organic solvent usage, but also by eradicating toxic expensive solvents and oxidants.