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+ Saponins
+ Organic chemistry
+ Solvent extraction
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Misha Firer

Is it possible to substitute n-butanol with n-hexane in saponin...

Braxton Anderson III  Follow

Hello Lucas,
No, you can´t substitute n-hexane instead of n-BuOH in saponin extraction. The n-hexane solven is not polar enough to solubilize the saponins, so you need use solvents with -OH groups (such as MeOH, EtOH, BuOH or H2O) to extract them.

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Charley Delph  Follow

Saponins are molecules that present amphiphilic properties and to be extracted you need amphiphilic solvents such as n-butanol.

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Donald Montecalvo  Follow

Dear Lucas Herman,
Replacing n-butanol with n-hexane has a negative effect on the extraction yield of saponins due to the fact that saponins have a hydrophilic and lipophylic moieties which interact efficiently with a solvent having a hydophilic and lipophylic moieties such as n-butanol. On the other hand n-hexane does not have any polar group to contribute to the solvation interactions with saponins.
Hoping this will be helpful,
Rafik

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Dewan Nirjhor  Follow

Although this may not be a norm, most saponins extractions are performed on powdered plant material (various parts) using MeOH, ethanol (EtOH), water, or aqueous alcohol as extracting solvents. This is followed by a defatting (to remove lipophilic substances) step (generally with petroleum ether or n-hexane) which is carried out before the extraction step or on the extract itself. The extracts are then dissolved or suspended in water and shaken with n-butanol saturated with water. The n-butanol aliquots are then combined and the liquid removed to give crude saponin extract to work with. Some workers go yet a step further and opt for a precipitation stage using diethyl ether or acetone. Others go further still and include a dialysis stage to remove small water-soluble molecules, such as sugars.
file:///C:/Users/M.%20PC/Downloads/Extraction%20and%20Isolation%20of%20Saponins.pdf

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Dexter Haven  Follow

no, you can not substitute, you can use methanol. methanol or ethanol will be the best. I suggest you go for sequential extraction from non-polar to polar.If u do sequential extraction you can remove Un wanted  constituents.

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Baissa Jika  Follow

There are  tremendous differences  in the properties between the two solvents ,one is an alcohol, you just have to try. 

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Donald Knieriemen  Follow

I fully agree with previous researchers' comments.
No.  Because polarity of  n-hexane differs from n- Butanol. You can select other solvent having similar polarity of Butanol. 

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