Patent ID: 7829123

Claim:
A process for preparing particles of a substance, the process comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a first liquid comprising water, the substance and a modulator, wherein the modulator has a solubility in water which decreases with increasing temperature; and the modulator is selected from the group consisting of a trialkylester of citric acid, a water-soluble polymer, and a surfactant, wherein the solubility of the modulator in water decreases with increasing temperature; and (b) contacting the first liquid with a second liquid comprising an anti-solvent supercritical fluid and an organic solvent using an anti-solvent supercritical fluid technique selected from the group consisting of GAS, SEDS, SAS, and PCA under conditions of temperature and pressure which result in the precipitation of particles comprising the substance, wherein: the temperature of the first liquid is at or above the cloud point temperature of the first liquid when the first liquid contacts the second liquid, and the modulator is soluble in the second liquid and is extracted from the first liquid upon contact with the second liquid, thereby producing particles of the substance containing less than 1% by weight of modulator.