Solubility of xylitol in mixtures of water and methanol or ethanol: Experimental measurements and thermodynamic modeling

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol classified as a prominent building block in the chemical industry. Besides, it is an important component in the food and pharmaceutical industries as an alternative to sucrose. The separation and purification of this chemical depend on experimental and theoretical information about solid-liquid equilibrium as a function of temperature, pressure, and composition. Therefore, this work aims to collect experimental data on the solubility of xylitol in hydroalcoholic solutions of methanol or ethanol for the whole range of composition of the binary liquid mixture in the range between 293.2 K to 323.2 K. The data indicates that methanol is more capable than ethanol in interacting with xylitol. Moreover, the solubility of xylitol is directly proportional to temperature and the proportion of water in the solution. Binary interaction parameters were successfully optimized for the PC-SAFT and CPA equations of state, as well as for the NRTL activity coefficient model. Additionally, the solubility behavior was predicted using the modified UNIFAC and ASOG Gibbs energy models.