I was doing a project on extraction of bioactive compounds from a certain plant and l used DCM as my nonpolar solvent , my supervisor asked me why l didn't use hexane or any other nonpolar solvent , can anyone help answer this, between the two solvents which is a better extraction solvent .
First you need to assess if your bioactive compound maintains its activity upon extraction and eliminate solvents that adversely affect the activity. Also try organic solvents that are water compatible since you are dealing with biologics.
Here important point is the solubility. Most of the compounds are soluble in dichloromethane. If the compound is soluble in hexane, hexane is ideal because it is less toxic and less hazardous to work with and also cheaper. At any cost aromatic solvents such as benzene should not be used as they are carcinogenic. In general chlorinated solvents should be avoided.
Best wishes
Balakrishna
People use esters or chloroform. I would say a mixture of ester and hexane using Soxhlet apparatus is ideal. One can assess their ratio to decide about polarity of the solvent.
regards
Balakrishna
- Badges
- Science topic