Investigation of reactive extraction of monocarboxylic acids with menthol-based hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent by response surface methodology

Abstract

The growing demand for producing organic acids by fermentative techniques has increased the significance of separating carboxylic acids from their fermentation broth with the reactive extraction process. Considering the environmental impacts, deep eutectic solvents can be considered as a potential green alternative for the replacement of volatile organic solvents commonly used in the extraction process. In this study, a new type of green solvent named hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (HDES) based on decanoic acid as a hydrogen bond acceptor and menthol as a hydrogen bond donor was utilized for the reactive extraction of formic, acetic, and propionic acids from their aqueous solutions. The effect of initial acid concentration, HDES molar ratio, and tri-n-octyl amine (TOA) concentration on extraction efficiency was investigated. Modeling of the reactive extraction process was performed via a response surface methodology with a central composite design. Herein, the effect of the parameters of TOA concentration, HDES molar ratio, and initial acid concentration on the distribution coefficient was investigated. According to the results, it was reported that the most effective parameter on the extraction efficiency (%E) was the amount of extractant. The results of the experimental studies showed that the highest separation efficiency was obtained for 5% initial concentrations of formic, acetic, and propionic acids by using a mixture of 0.5 HDES molar ratio solvent and 1.9 mol/L TOA. The extraction efficiencies of these acids were found to be 88.71, 92.52, and 95.90 with +/- 0.1 standard deviation, respectively.