Oxygen fractional extraction

Other compounds, containing sulphur or nitrogen, may be present in some oils (like onion, garlic).Investigations on the solubility of pure essential-oil components in carbon dioxide showed that the separation of terpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated derivatives by fractionated extraction is difficult, since their solubility behaviours and vapour pressures are almost the same. Saturating the CO2 with water as modifier can increase the differences in solubility [78],... 

The above mentioned studies showed that these actions are mainly due to the oxygenated fraction of the oil containing alcohols (mainly linalool and alpha-terpineol), corresponding esters and methyl chavicol, this last extracted from samples of Sardinian wild S. sclarea plants only. All these compounds, when administered separately, had a lesser effect than the essential oils in toto. These results suggest that the antiedematous effect is due to the synergistic action of the constituents of the essential oil. 

The possibilities of using similar methods in other situations are numerous. For example, if a mixture of a large number of aldehydes incapable of convenient definition were to be separated by fractional extraction, the percentage of carbonyl oxygen as measured by precipitation with sodium bisulfite might be used as a characterizing property. Simplification of this sort is necessary in any highly complex system. 

Industrially, elemental nitrogen is extracted from the air by the fractional distillation of liquid air from which carbon dioxide and water have been removed. The major fractions are nitrogen, b.p. 77 K and oxygen, b.p. 90 K, together with smaller quantities of the noble gases. 

One example of normal-phase liquid chromatography coupled to gas chromatography is the determination of alkylated, oxygenated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) in urban air particulate extracts (97). Since such extracts are very complex, LC-GC is the best possible separation technique. A quartz microfibre filter retains the particulate material and supercritical fluid extraction (SPE) with CO2 and a toluene modifier extracts the organic components from the dust particles. The final extract is then dissolved in -hexane and analysed by NPLC. The transfer at 100 p.1 min of different fractions to the GC system by an on-column interface enabled many PACs to be detected by an ion-trap detector. A flame ionization detector (PID) and a 350 p.1 loop interface was used to quantify the identified compounds. The experimental conditions employed are shown in Table 13.2. 

Cresylic acid is a commercial mixture of phenolic compounds including phenol, cresols, and xylenols. This mixture varies widely according to its source. Properties of phenol, cresols, and xylenols are shown in Table 4-5 Cresylic acid constitutes part of the oxygen compounds found in crudes that are concentrated in the naphtha fraction obtained principally from naphthenic and asphaltic-based crudes. Phenolic compounds, which are weak acids, are extracted with relatively strong aqueous caustic solutions. 

CALDWELL c R (2001) Oxygen radical absorbance capacity of the phenolic compounds in plant extracts fractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography, ,4Biochem, 293, 232-8. 

---