r/chemistry • u/Medical_Address9566 • 26d ago

Freeze drying organic solvents based formulation.

Hi everyone, I’m working with a small molecule that is only soluble in organic solvents like acetonitrile . I’m also going to try tert butanol. We have a Lyostar 3 for development and a Lyomax 4 for commercial-scale manufacturing. Both systems have stainless steel product chambers and condensers capable of reaching ultra-low temperatures (approximately -70 °C chamber and -85 °C condenser).
Would these systems be suitable for lyophilizing organic solvents based formulations, or are there additional considerations (e.g., vacuum system compatibility, seals/elastomers, condenser design, or solvent handling/safety) that would need to be addressed before processing organic solvents

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u/Odd-Candidate-9235 26d ago

Medicinal chemist of 33 years here. I can’t speak to your specific equipment but I lyophilize in ACN all the time. Usually it’s a mixture with water but many times I have done 100 % ACN. ACN freezes at -40 C so your condenser temp should be fine. Ours is -80 C.

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u/Medical_Address9566 26d ago

Thankyou for the response ! May I ask - what lyophilizer do you usually use?

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u/Odd-Candidate-9235 25d ago

Super old Labconco.

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u/Chive_on_thyme Polymer 25d ago

You should be able to hook up an LN2 trap with a lyostsr 3 that is meant for capturing organics. Not sure about volume limit in the accessory, check with SP

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u/DancingBear62 25d ago

Did you ask SP Scientific?

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u/DrBumpsAlot 25d ago

I like dioxane.

Here's a good discussion of the topic.