Electrochemically-Controlled Rapid Chromatographic Separation of Nuisance Compounds from Natural Product Extracts

Abstract Natural products remain a rich source of compounds for drug discoveryHowevera significant challenge for high throughput bioassay screening against molecular targets is the isolation of bioactive compound mixture free from interfering nuisance compoundsThe well established ubiquitous nuisance compounds in plant extracts are Tanninspolyphenolic plant metabolitesSolid phase extractionSPEprocess is now gaining recognition as a method for rapid fractionation of crude plant extracts and employed to remove nuisance compounds as well as purify and concentrate analytes before introducing them into more expensive gasor liquidchromatography instrumentationOur customer discovery interviews found that the challenges with current reverse phase materials in the removal of nuisance compounds during natural product extraction include unsuitable for more than single usepHdegrades at basic pHand temperaturedegrades at T andgtCrestrictionsand suboptimal performance in the removal of nuisance compounds such as tanninsThese technical issues affectedincreasedthe operational costs to manufacture the product and decreased marginsThis SBIR proposal s overall objective is to commercially develop and deploy innovative solid phase extraction cartridges that incorporate electrically conducting all carbon spherical microparticlesM diametersynthesized using multi walled carbon nanotubesMWCNTsas starting materialUnder an applied voltagethis material will selectively separate tanninsa class of nuisance compounds prevalent in plant extractsTwo specific aims will be pursuedIn Aimwe will fabricate and characterize the solid phase extraction cartridgemonthsIn aimwe will perform proof of principle experiments toaimproved retention of tanninsbrapid of detection trapped tannins by electrospray mass spectrometryandcautoclave and reuse of the cartridgemonthsExpected outcomes includeIdentification of optimalD crosslinked MWCNT powder solidporositycoating thicknessand applied electrical voltagephase extraction cartridgeSignificantly better removal of tannin nuisance compounds compared commercially available silica Cand graphitic hypercarb materialUse of the cartridge for rapidsensitive detection of tannins by electrospray mass spectrometryReuse of the cartridge for multiple cycles without compromising performanceThe scientific insights from the phaseactivities will lay the foundation for the scale up of our product as well as apply it for the removal of other nuisance compoundsUpon complete developmentNanoPak C will attract customers seeking next generation performance capabilities fall outside the capabilities of current reverse phase materials for the removal of nuisance compounds during natural product extraction and further separation of active drug candidates from the purified extracts of natural products Project Narrative Natural products remain a rich source of compounds for drug discoveryHowevera significant challenge for high throughput bioassay screening against molecular targets is the isolation of bioactive compound mixture free from interfering nuisance compoundsIn this projectwe will develop and deploy an innovative solid phase extraction cartridges that incorporate electrically conducting all carbon spherical microparticlesUnder an applied voltagethis material will facilitate selectively separation and detection of tanninsa class of nuisance compounds prevalent in plant extracts