| Locoweeds have been described as the most destructive of all toxic plants. Losses to the livestock industry reached millions of dollars every year in United State alone. Toxic effects of locoweeds are caused by an indolizidine alkaloid, known as swainsonine. Selective adsorption of swainsonine is a viable method for the treatment of locoweed toxicosis. Modified clay materials have potential choice for the selective adsorption of swainsonine.; Two modified clays, Aquagel and Beidellite, and a commercially available clay, HSCAS, were tested for the selective adsorption of swainsonine. Aquagel was modified with TMA and TMABBA, and Beidellite was modified with TMABBA. HSCAS was used as received.; Tetramethylammonium (TMA) modification of Aquagel produces porous materials. It is a shape-selective adsorbent as demonstrated by differences in energies of adsorption for the series of pentane isomers and cyclopentane. From these C-5 compounds, IGC determinations indicate that normal pentane is the compound that got adsorbed strongest by TMA-Aquagel. This is due to the intramolecular conformations that are possible with normal pentane. Neo-pentane, on the other hand, is the molecule with the lowest energies of adsorption due to its relatively large size that can not be altered. This large compound does not “fit” in the clay interlamelar pores created by TMA.; Boronic acid was the second modifier. It was chosen for its ability to bind diol-containing molecules. Modification of Aquagel and Beidellite with 3-trimethylammoniumbenzeneboronic acid, TMABBA, had no effect on Aquagel and only a slight increase in the ability of Beidellite bind swainsonine. When tested in a solution containing a mixture of swainsonine and mannose, TMABBA-Beidellite showed to be more selective for the binding of mannose in comparison with swainsonine. The commercially available HSCAS resulted also to be more selective for the binding of mannose. |
