Tacrolimus is an important immunosuppressant produced by microbial fermentation. In this study, a modified nanoscale polymeric adsorbent, Ag+-exchanged resin, was prepared and studied for the preparative separation and purification of tacrolimus from fermentation broth of Streptomyces tsukubaensis. The performance and absorption characteristics of the modified nanoscale polymeric adsorbent namely Ag-NPS was evaluated. Notably, Ag-NPS resin displayed the pronounced separation capacities for tacrolimus and its equilibrium adsorption data was well-fitted to the Langmuir isotherm. Moreover, the dynamic adsorption and desorption tests was carried out to obtain the operational parameters for further purification of tacrolimus. Finally, tacrolimus and the two major impurities, ascomycin and dihydrotacrolimus, were separated well in the scale-up purification process. The purity and recovery of tacrolimus was recorded to be 99.12±0.25% and 90.41±2.05%. In conclusion, this method displayed a high potential for separation and purification of tacrolimus and other unsaturated bioactive compounds in high yield from the fermentation broth.
Keywords: Coordination chemistry; Nanoscale polymer particles; Separation; Streptomyces tsukubaensis; Tacrolimus.
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