Development of effective potassium acetate extractant

Abstract

Carboxylates are commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industry and due to their extensive use, carboxylates present a significant environmental burden. In this context, valine based, heteroditopic receptor1was prepared and its ability to bind simultaneously potassium cation and acetate anion in water containing CH3CN solutions was demonstrated. Under liquid-liquid extraction conditions the receptor1was capable of extracting hydrophilic AcOK salt from aqueous solution and was proved to be nearly ten times more effective than the equimolar mixture of monotopic receptors. Furthermore, compound1could extract one of the most popular nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ibuprofen (IbuOK), from relatively dilute aqueous solutions.