Areas of Research and Development

The selling price of gluconic acid (50 % solution, technical grade) was 0.50-0.56/lb and of sodium gluconate (powder, technical grade) 0.66-0.70/lb (Anonymous 2000). 

The bacterial strains presently being considered for incorporation into future processes for gluconic acid production are listed in Table 1.18. Initially, G. oxydans was used for production it became evident that this organism presents important barriers to commercial process development. 

A gluconic acid yield of 84.6 % and glucose conversion of 94 % were achieved. The calculated productivity of 26.3 g/l-h was the 

Even at this high concentration of gluconic acid, the A. methanolicus cells, when continuously fed glucose, maintained a synthesis rate of gluconic acid at 20-30 g/l-h for 7 days (Poehland et al. 1993). The medium retention time in the reactor (F) and the permeate stream rate were controlled by pumps in the recycle circuit, which runs through a microfiltration module (MF). This arrangement continuously 

Flow diagram of the gluconic acid synthesis process utilizing Acetobacter methanolicus (See the text for details. Redrawn from Poehland et al. (1993), with permission) 

---

This is a relatively recent area of research and development. It has come about because of various reasons unsightly plastic articles, over-flowing landfill sites, enhancing humus in soils thus avoiding combustion methods that may generate toxic vapours, etc. 

Present Status and Promising Areas of Research and Development.275... 

The discovery that certain classes of polymers may acquire high electronic conductivity following chemical or electrochemical treatment has opened a new and exciting area of research and development. 

Today, carbon chemistry is more closely related to organic and hydrocarbon chemistry than to the elemental aUotropes of carbon. Over the past century organic and hydrocarbon chemistry has opened up vast areas of research and development leading to new commercial processes and products. 

The SUSTECH program was launched by a consortium of the major chemical companies in Europe in April 1994. In doing so, they created a framework which would enable them to collaborate effectively in areas of research and development, which would be critical for the long term future of the process industries in Europe. The focus for collaboration would be those areas that while attracting public concern were nevertheless not areas in which the companies would normally compete. Such areas as sustainable development, protection of the environment, and technologies for making more efficient use of the earth s resources were ready targets for collaborative action. 

Initially, interest for NIR emission of lanthanide ions stemmed from the development of optical libers, lasers and amplifiers for telecommunication (Kido and Okamoto, 2002 Kuriki et al., 2002) and there are a wealth of theoretical and technical papers published in this area. Up-conversion processes have also been the subject of intense investigations (Auzel, 2004). These two areas of research and development mostly deal with purely inorganic compounds or, more recently, with luminescent polymers they will not be covered in this chapter, with the exception of the latter, which will be partly described. 

In recent years intraocular delivery of medication, including anti-vascular endothelial growth fector, corticosteroids and related compounds, and antiviral agents, has either been approved or is under study for treatment of macular degeneration, uveitis, cytomegalovirus, or diabetic macular edema (Table 2-5).This area of research and development is growing rapidly. 

X HE USE OF CHEMICAL APPROACHES to improve the processing, properties, and performance of advanced ceramic materials is a rapidly growing area of research and development. One approach involves the preparation of organometallic polymer precursors and their controlled pyrolysis to ceramic materials. This chapter will review the preparation and application of silicon-, carbon-, and nitrogen-containing polymer systems. However, the discussion is not exhaustive the focus is on systems with historical significance or that demonstrate key technological advances. 

The presence of low levels of amorphous character in predominantly crystalline samples (jand vice versa) occurs quite often, and can be the cause of unexpected processing or stability problems in pharmaceutical sys-tems. Much effort has been directed at developing analytical tools both to detect and to quantify small amounts of one phase in another, primarily through the use of calorimetric and spectroscopic meth-ods. This is an important area of research and development because the performance and stability of seemingly 100% amorphous (or 100% crystalline) materials can be significantly altered by the presence of very low levels (<1%) of the opposite phase. ° This includes the phenomenon known as amplification that has been eloquently described by Ahlneck and Zografi. ... 

There are five well-defined areas of research and development for the industry ... 

An adsorbent is often tailor-made to suit a separation need or a process can be designed to best fit the properties of an adsorbent. Special adsorbents are also available for specific applications (e.g., removal of mercury vapor, drying of reactive fluids, resistance to acids, etc). More recently, adsorbents have been produced that use reversible chemisorption as the mechanism for gas separation. Creation of new adsorbents and modification of existing adsorbents continue to be an active area of research and development. 

Other areas of research and development that are now taking shape are studies of organic polymers that are photo- and elec-troresponsive, and studies of systems that are biocompatible and promise to find extensive use in biology and medicine. 

Each of the laboratories contributed to the research and development of analytical methods, to cross-checking methods developed in participating laboratories, and to publication of the information which was derived. Among the areas of research and development to which the Project addressed itself were sample preparation techniques, measurement techniques, and possibly most important of all, sources of error. 

With the invention of the aceto-hydoxy-add synthesis inhibitors (AHAS) the dominance of herbiddes that ad as photosynthesis inhibitors was dramatically broken - as it was also by the development of genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops. These especially important areas of research and development, from the 1990s up to now, are exemplified in Chapters 3 and 7. The development of 12 new sulfonyl urea herbicides launched since 1995 and the invention of four development compounds of the same chemical class, after the introduction to the market of twenty compounds already between 1980 and 1995, refleds the importance of this biochemical mode of adion for the herbicide market as well as the different chemistries found to be active at this target, such as imidazolinones, triazolo-pyrimidines, pyrimidinyl-carboxylates, and sulfonylaminocarbonyl-triazolinones. 

---