Spherical cyclodextrin polymer beads

Claim 2

A process for making spherical cyclodextrin polymer beads comprising the steps of: (a) forming an emulsion of droplets of polar solvent and cyclodextrin surrounded at least in part by an emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral in a non-polar solvent; (b) adding a cross-linking agent to said non-polar solvent and reacting said cross-linking agent with said cyclodextrin to form a spherical cyclodextrin polymer; and (c) recovering said spherical cyclodextrin polymer which is substantially free of said polyvinyl butyral.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein said non-polar solvent is methylisobutylketone, said polar solvent is aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and said cross-linking agent is epichlorohydrin.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1 wherein said non-polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of methylisobutylketone, o-xylene and toluene.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein said polar solvent is water to which a base has been added to act as a catalyst, said base selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, and lithium hydroxide.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein said cross-linking agent is selected from the group consisting of epichlorohydrin, formaldehyde, diepoxybutane and phosphoroxy chloride.

Claim 7

The process of claim 5 wherein said polyvinyl butyral has a molecular weight of about 100,000 to about 150,000 and a hydroxyl content of about 19%.

Claim 8

The process of claim 1 wherein said polar solvent is an aqueous alkali metal hydroxide solution.

Claim 9

The process of claim 1 wherein said polar solvent is water to which a base has been added to act as a catalyst, said base being selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate and lithium hydroxide.

Claim 10

The process of claim 1 wherein the cross-linking agent is selected from the group consisting of epichlorohydrin, formaldehyde, diepoxybutane and phosphoroxychloride.

Claim 11

The process of claim 1 wherein said polyvinyl butyral has a molecular weight about 100,000 to about 150,000 and a hydroxyl content of about 19%.

Claim 12

The process of claim 1 wherein forming the emulsion comprises the steps of: (a 1 ) first, mixing the cyclodextrin with the polar solvent; (a 2 ) then, mixing the emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral into the mix of cyclodextrin and polar solvent; and (a 3 ) finally, stirring in the non-polar solvent to the mix of emulsifying agent, cyclodextrin and polar solvent to form said emulsion.

Claim 13

The process of claim 1 wherein forming said emulsion comprises the steps of: (a 1 ) first, mixing the cyclodextrin with the polar solvent; (a 2 ) then, mixing the non-polar solvent into the mix of cyclodextrin and polar solvent; and (a 3 ) finally, mixing the emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral into the mix of cyclodextrin, polar solvent and non-polar solvent to form said emulsion.

Claim 14

The process of claim 1 wherein the step of reacting the cross-linking agent with the cyclodextrin is conducted at a temperature of about 50° to about 90° C. while constantly stirring.

Claim 15

A spherical cyclodextrin polymer made by a process comprising the steps of: (a) forming an emulsion of droplets of polar solvent and cyclodextrin surrounded at least in part by an emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral in a non-polar solvent; (b) adding a cross-linking agent to said non-polar solvent and reacting said cross-linking agent with said cyclodextrin to form a spherical cyclodextrin polymer; and (c) recovering said spherical cyclodextrin polymer which is substantially free of said polyvinyl butyral wherein said spherical cyclodextrin polymer is a cross-linked 3-dimensional matrix of cyclodextrin substantially free of emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral.

Claim 16

A spherical cyclodextrin polymer made by a process comprising the steps of: (a) forming an emulsion of droplets of polar solvent and cyclodextrin surrounded at least in part by an emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral in a non-polar solvent; (b) adding a cross-linking agent to said non-polar solvent and reacting said cross-linking agent with said cyclodextrin to form a spherical cyclodextrin polymer; and (c) recovering said spherical cyclodextrin polymer which is substantially free of said polyvinyl butyral wherein said spherical cyclodextrin polymer is a cross-linked 3-dimensional matrix of cyclodextrin substantially free of emulsifying agent polyvinyl butyral.

Claim 17

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of claim 14 wherein said non-polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of methylisobutylketone, o-xylene and toluene.

Claim 18

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of claim 15 wherein said polar solvent is water to which a base has been added to act as a catalyst, said base selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate and lithium hydroxide.

Claim 19

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of claim 16 wherein said cross-linking agent is selected from the group consisting of epichlorohydrin, formaldehyde, diepoxybutane and phosphoroxy chloride.

Claim 20

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of claim 17 wherein said polyvinyl butyral has a molecular weight of about 100,000 to about 150,000 and a hydroxyl content of about 19%.

Claim 21

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of cl aim 18 wherein the cyclodextrin is beta-cyclodextrin.

Claim 22

The spherical cyclodextrin polymer of cl aim 18 wherein the cyclodextrin is beta-cyclodextrin.