GB818519A - Protein complexes - Google Patents

Abstract

Proteinaceous materials are protected from heat or chemical denaturation by adding a completely or partially fluorinated aliphatic acid, amine, alcohol or alcohol derivative, having at least two carbon atoms or a salt thereof, which provides an anion or cation with a non-polar group when in aqueous solution, to a solution of proteinaceous material to form a fluoro compound-protein complex, the resulting solution having a pH such that the fluorinated compound and the proteinaceous material carry like charges, i.e. above the isoelectric point when a fluorinated acid or alcohol is used, and below the isoelectric point when a fluorinated amine is used, and being capable of being heated to an elevated temperature, e.g. to sterilize the protein, or to which a potentially denaturing substance may be added without denaturation of the protein. The proteinaceous material, e.g. ovalbumin, gelatin, human serum albumin, fibrinogen, bovine gamma globulin, beta lactoglobulin, viruses, antitoxins or enzymes such as urease, may be extracted from the complex by dilution, dialysis or ion exchange procedure. Specified fluoro-compounds are perfluoro-butyric, -caproic, -caprylic, -capric, and -lauric acids and the corresponding acids in which the omega fluorine atom is replaced by hydrogen, together with omega hydro perfluoro-pelorganic, -undecoic, and -tridecoic acids and salts thereof; alpha-dihydroperfluoro aliphatic acids having four to twelve carbon atoms and alphadihydro perfluoro aliphatic amines having from two to twelve carbon atoms and their salts, e.g. hydrochloride, hydrobromide, sulphate, and phosphate. The term "alcohol derivative" is defined as a partially fluorinated aliphatic alcohol of formul (i) ROSO3H, (ii) ROSO2X, and (iii) RSO3H and their salts, where X is a metal or ammonium, R is a fluoroalkyl radical containing at least two carbon atoms, e.g. fluoro-butyric, -caproic, -caprylic, -capric or -lauric radical. Specification 818,520 is referred to.