Extraction of short-chain-length poly-[(R)-hydroxyalkanoates] (scl-PHA) by the anti-solvent acetone under elevated temperature and pressure

A novel method was developed for extraction of short-chain-length poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (scl-PHA) from microbial biomass by the well-known scl-PHA anti-solvent acetone at elevated temperature and pressure in a closed system combining components for extraction, filtration, and product work-up. Recovery of scl-PHA using this new approach was compared with established methods using chloroform at ambient pressure. The new method performs similar regarding product purity (98.4 vs. 97.7 %) and extraction yield (96.8 % by both methods), and is by far faster than established chloroform extraction (20 min vs. 12 h). Separation of the polymer from acetone is simply achieved by cooling down the acetone solution of scl-PHA, thus allows for a nearly quantitative recovery of the solvent that conveniently can be reused. Characterization of scl-PHA extracted by both methods does not reveal any significant difference in terms of molar mass and thermo analytical parameters.