Deep Eutectic Solvents

During my undergrad, I was involved in multiple DES-based projects, which I will outline shortly below.

Mechanochemical Preparation of Deep Eutectic Solvents

Recent developments in mechanochemistry have enabled the preparation of deep eutectic solvents (DESs), which can be a greener and more viable alternative to the traditional thermal preparation of DESs. In this regard, we prepared three different types of DESs using the mechanochemical method and compared them to traditional thermally prepared DESs, all of which were characterized and analyzed using multi-technique approaches including spectroscopic, statistical, and thermal analysis. A spectroscopic FT-IR investigation was used to confirm the formation of DES using both methods. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the FTIR spectra data showed that both methods produced similar results for all the DESs prepared. Thermal analysis of the DESs was performed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results revealed that in all cases, even and almost for more challenging DESs, the mechanochemical-assisted rotary tumbler ball milling method showed unique advantages in comparison with traditional preparation processes in terms of energy, performance, security, operating time, economics, and thus industrial-scale reality. This method can reveal the pathway to meet the industry’s new expectations for DES production and the future development of this green solvent-based process in different fields.

In this project, we prepared three classes of DES using mechanochemical methods and compared them with conventional thermal methods. We characterized the formation of DES using experimental ATR-FTIR, DSC, and TGA techniques. Additionally, we compared the results with the thermal method of preparing the same DESs.

PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW AMINO ACID-BASED DEEP EUTECTIC SOLVENTS (AADES)

Amino acid-based deep eutectic solvents (AADES) are safe, sustainable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly substances by nature. They demonstrated potential in improving protein, drug, and biosynthetic solubilities. Although numerous studies are focused on the preparation and application of DESs, few studies are reported to elucidate the complex structure, dynamics, and interaction behavior of DESs.

Here we employed molecular dynamics (MD), atom-atom radial distribution functions (RDFs), and density functional theory (DFT) coupled with spectroscopic approaches to explore the formation of amino acid-based DES.