The handiness is appreciated when recovering / preserving small-scale samples before and after NMR measurements.
We interviewed Dr. Koike whose research subject is the reaction development with photocatalysis in organic synthetic chemistry.
Interviewee:
Takashi Koike, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science,
Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology
BioChromato
Thank you very much for your time today. To start with, could you tell us the stages of your research where the Smart Evaporator is used?
Dr. Koike
The Smart Evaporator is used for example: when removing solvent from the small amount of solution to check the progress during the synthesis reaction; when removing deuterated solvent to collect the component from synthesized sample after NMR measurement.
BioChromato
Thank you. Could you also tell us the detail of the quantity and containers used, and names of solvents you evaporate?
Dr. Koike
It varies depending on each student’s experiment – the solvent evaporated is not only DMSO but also dioxane, acetone, methylene chloride, chloroform and so on. Container used is usually a 10mL vial (screw bottle) or a microtube, and the quantity is between 0.5 and 2mL.
BioChromato
Hearing the variety of solvent, we can imagine that the Smart Evaporator is being utilized for many different experiments. How did you know about the Smart Evaporator for the first time?
Dr. Koike
Through the catalog that’s been distributed by an agency.
BioChromato
Are there any points you noticed after actually having introduced the device, or any merits you realized while using it?
Dr. Koike
Using the Smart Evaporator has led to the improvement of sample recovery rate, particularly at small-scale experiments with rare compounds. Normally, in order to remove polar solvent with high boiling point such as DMSO, low-polarity solvent is added then the compound is shifted to the water phase by separation. Whereas, since the introduction of the Smart Evaporator, the work efficiency has remarkably been improved because the sample after NMR can be concentrated as it is.
BioChromato
Has it contributed to the time efficiency too?
Dr. Koike
Because there is no risk of bumping, we are now able to concentrate on other experiments once the Smart Evaporator has started with a sample set. We are also saving the storage space now, because the concentration can be operated in the microtube then directly sent for preservation..
BioChromato
We see how actively the Smart Evaporator is working in your laboratory. On the other hand, are there any comments or requests for any improvements we could make?
Dr. Koike
It feels a little awkward when fixing the Spiral Plug to a container. Also the joint between the tube and the plug is a little fragile (which had to be replaced in the past).
BioChromato
As we’d received several similar comments, we have already made some improvements and launched a new model that is much easier to handle in November 2017. We’d be more than happy if you could consider about the second unit in your laboratory. We will keep making our efforts in listening to users’ voices, working for improvements, and supplying valuable products to our customers.
Summary
Dr. Koike who has kindly cooperated in this interview is using photocatalystic reaction to develop new molecules with various functions. For him, compound recovery rate before and after the NMR measurement in the process of organic synthesis experiments had been the issue to solve. In the past, in order to distill small amount of high boiling point solvent such as DMSO he used to mix the sample with low boiling point solvent then operate on the rotary evaporator. The issues with such a method were: risk of bumping and loss of samples when transferring from a flask to vials (screw bottles). By introducing the Smart Evaporator, dilution of solvent and / or transference of containers have become unnecessary, and that led to the improvement in sample recovery rate and the solution for sample storage space too. Furthermore, avoidance of bumping risks resulted in improvement of safety and operation time – hearing those points at the interview, we are glad to know he is realizing many merits from the product.
(Interviewer: Watanabe, Otake, Yokosawa)
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