Ionic Liquids: A New Strategy in Pharmaceutical Synthesis

The industrial synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds often involves the use of organic solvents. Unfortunately, these reaction media are responsible for organic contaminations in the final product. In recent years, ionic liquids (ILs) have become the “green alternatives” of volatile organic solvents. Thus, the application of ILs instead of conventional reagents offer a new opportunity to solve problems of environmentally harmful solvents. This mini-review discusses a new application of ILs in laboratory-scale pharmaceutical synthesis.