Why WFE/SPD? Part 3 of 5 Larger Molecules

The question arises: How do you know when wiped film distillation is the better option?

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Reason three to consider wiped film distillation: Larger Molecules

Wiped film distillation makes distilling larger molecules easy. 

I am using the word “large” relatively.  For example, in traditional equipment like reactors and rotovaps, it is often a challenge to distill higher boiling solvents like dimethylformamide or dimethyl sulfoxide.  Chemists often avoid these solvents because of the difficulty in removing them by distillation.

A big reason for this is traditional setups are often not capable of high vacuum or high temperature.  Reactors are often run by house vacuum and might not pull any better than 10-20 Torr.  The temperatures available might be limited to 150°C, and it becomes very difficult to completely drive off these higher boiling materials. 

On the other hand, wiped film stills remove these types of materials with ease.  In fact, these molecules are on the small size of what wiped film stills can accomplish.

Wiped film stills can be set up as high vacuum systems.  They commonly operate in the 0.02 – 0.1 Torr range and can be operated at 0.001 Torr or below if needed.  At these vacuum levels, the boiling point of the solvents mentioned is reduced to less than 5°C, so it doesn’t require that much heat to remove these from a mixture.

Another advantage is wiped film stills are also commonly operated at temperatures as high as 250 – 300°C.  This high heat capability combined with the high vacuum allows the systems to distill materials as large as C18 diglycerides, pesticides, cannabinoids and various other large molecules.

If you have a larger molecule and want to distill it, wiped film distillation could be your best option.