- Considering below facts about the natural compound Artemisinin, design an experiment to extract it from its source. The suggested experimental methodology should propose a) a sustainable collection method, b) drying method and c) extraction method.
‘’Artemisinin is extracted from sweet wormwood, Artemisia annua. Artemisinin have become essential antimalarial drugs for increasingly widespread drug-resistant malaria strains. Chemically, artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone containing an unusual peroxide bridge. Artemisinin has poor solubility in either water or oil, and instead, it is soluble in many aprotic solvents. Artemisinin is amazingly thermostable: even when the temperature reaches its melting point at about 156-157 °C, no obvious decomposition is observed. However, further temperature increases to 190 °C leads to the breakdown of this molecule. Artemisinin is unstable in the presence of alkali or acid, resulting in the generation of mixed products.’’
- Below is the FTIR spectrum of sodium alginate. What functional group (s) is suggested by the IR spectrum given.
- One of the main challenges in drug development from marine organisms is the consistent availability of sufficient amounts of organisms without harming the marine environment. Discuss three possible solutions to overcome this problem.