Safe, Rapid Drying of Purified Fractions and Lab Scale Reaction Mixtures

Modular SFC announces the Centrifan Personal Evaporator (PE) at ACS. This portable, easy-to-use centrifugal concentration/evaporation system provides safe, rapid drying of purified fractions and lab scale reaction mixtures. The low maintenance system is also ideal for drying medicinal chemistry scaffold modifications in drug discovery as well as the reaction mixtures of many other synthetic chemistry applications. The compact unit is also very effective for sample prep evaporation steps and for drying purified lab scale fractions from a Flash LC or HPLC.

The Centrifan PE generates its own gas flow to accelerate sample evaporation by using a novel process which re-circulates a captured volume of gas. Centrifugal force keeps samples secure in their containers and ensures maximum purity and yield. The technique eliminates the need for a vacuum pump or a large supply of blow down gas, significantly reducing complexity and maintenance compared to rotary evaporators, vacuum centrifuges, and blow-down equipment. Because it operates without vacuum, the system eliminates the potential for cross contamination and sample loss caused by solvent bumping and foaming.

The re-circulating gas flow is produced by a centrifugal fan into which a holder is placed to carry the drying containers. The spinning fan generates a high flow rate of drying gas which is directed through the containers. The rotation generates centrifugal force to keep 100% of the solute pressed in the sample containers, thus preventing compound loss and cross contamination. Evaporated solvent vapors are continuously circulated through a dry ice cold trap to condense the solvent vapor and return dry gas to the Centrifan housing to pick up more solvent. The system achieves very high solvent recovery because the vapor-carrying gas circulates continuously through the cold trap during the drying process.

With a small 8 x 8 inch footprint and only 18 inches high, the self-contained Centrifan PE requires little bench space and doesn’t need to be placed under a fume hood. The portable system can also be operated on a lab cart, providing further convenience and savings of bench space. The Centrifan PE provides rotor options including six 20 mL scintillation vials, eight 1.6 mL Eppendorf tubes, and eight 1.8 mL HPLC injection vials. The system is priced under $5,000.