Deformulation
EAG is the industry leader in the deformulation of products and materials. Also known as reverse engineering, deformulation is the separation, identification and quantitation of ingredients in a formulation. Our experienced chemists have performed deformulations on hundreds of products and have the skills and tools to successfully deformulate the most difficult materials.
What is Deformulation?
Deformulation involves customized extractions and specialized instrumental techniques to identify and quantify the components of a complex mixture. The components may include active pharmaceutical ingredients, polymers, plasticizers, fillers, stabilizers, lubricants, antioxidants, flame retardants, etc. Although it is not always practical to develop a “cookbook recipe” from a deformulation, in most cases our analysis identifies both major and minor components.
Deformulation Examples
EAG scientists have successfully deformulated a variety of products such as:
- Pharmaceuticals, including topicals, gels, creams, ointments and tablets
- Plastics (PP, PE, PMMA, Nylon, PU, flexible and rigid PVC, copolymer and blends, degradable PP and PE)
- Specialty products (multiple layer films and high temperature engineered products)
- Coatings, including paints, architectural coatings and finishes
- Adhesives (PSA, hot melt and water borne) and sealants (epoxy, PU, silicone)
- Rubber products (natural rubber, EPDM, TPE, Neoprene, SIS, SBS, NBR, EVA, PUR, silicone and more)
- Medical devices
- Consumer and industrial detergents and cleaners
- Textiles used in garments and upholstery applications
- Inks for laser printers, finger printing and packaging
- Composites (glass reinforced, carbon or graphite filled, Kevlar fiber reinforced and more)
- Home, health and beauty products
Related Resources
- Webinar: Deformulation of Pharmaceuticals
- App Note: Adhesion Failure in Medical Device Packaging
- App Note: The Art and Science of Paint Deformulation
- App Note: Characterization of Polymers using DSC
- App Note: Surface and Interface Characterization of Polymers
- App Note: Contaminants by Thermal Desorption GC/MS
- Industry: Medical Devices
- Industry: Coatings & Adhesives
- Industry: Industrial Chemicals
- Industry: Generic Drugs
- Industry: Personal Care
- Industry: Products for Home & Garden
- Industry: Packaging
Our clients apply reverse engineering results for a variety of reasons, including competitive product characterization, identification of batch to batch variations, product improvement, comparison of “good” vs. “bad” samples and intellectual property legal cases.
EAG’s deformulation laboratory uses multiple techniques such as GC/MS, LC/MS, FTIR, NMR, ICP, TGA and DSC. Our analyses can identify and quantify major and minor components.
Typical Techniques
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