This work describes the use of experiment planning to investigate the effects of the variables temperature and concentration of the polymer solution on the viscosity test of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). For this, the response surface methodology was based on a central composite rotatable design (CCRD) to optimize the combinations of the analytical conditions. With the analysis of the standard sample of PET with intrinsic viscosity of 0.630 ± 0.008 dL g-1 and 2-chlorophenol solvent, it was observed that the solution flow temperature and PET concentration caused significant effects on the results, while the storage temperature of the solvent was not statistically significant. With the results and the model developed, an industrial solid state polymerization process of PET was evaluated with simulations of the production of 30 tons of PET, demonstrating the importance of controlling the variables to guarantee the performance in quality control laboratories.

The purpose of this work was to study four different solvent mixtures intended to increase the yield of the extraction stage of clavulanic acid (CA), which is one of the steps in the purification process. Four central composite rotatable designs (CCRD) were utilized to optimize the solvent mixtures. The variables selected for the factorial design were solvent mixture ratio (mL/mL) and temperature (ºC). The results showed that the yield of CA extracted from fermentation broth with the solvent mixtures of methyl-ethyl-ketone and ethyl acetate, and methyl-isobutyl-ketone and ethyl acetate (44.7 and 50.0%, respectively) was higher than that of the individual ethyl acetate alone (36.5%).

The present article reviews different aspects of the chemistry of two widely used β-lactam antibiotics Clavulanic Acid and Cephamycin C. The article discusses important details of the biosynthesis of these compounds, their action mechanism and, principally, the methods employed in their isolation and purification, in accordance with the available literature. Despite the large quantity of available articles and patents concerning β-lactam antibiotics, those which describe the isolation and purification of Clavulanic Acid and Cephamycin C are rare. Overall, the intention of this article is to discuss the up-to-date scientific research related to the compounds under review.