Andrzej Stańczak, Wiesława Lewgowd

Ionic liquids – the future of pharmacy?
2019-07-16

Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with a melting point below 100˚C. Their unique properties make them useful in numerous technological processes. They are used by the chemical, electrochemical, papermaking industries, etc. Lots of them possess also interesting biological activities. They are used as herbicides as well as antimicrobial and disinfectant agents. ILs are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, mainly as catalysts and reaction media, replacing volatile organic solvents. They also contribute to solving formulation problems such as low solubility or polymorphism of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). In the form of emulsion, microemulsion or ionogel, ILs may be used as carriers of APIs or be a part of delivery systems of medicaments. Moreover, a combination of API and IL creating dual function derivatives (API - IL) allows obtaining pharmaceutical products with better physicochemical properties and higher biological activity.

Keywords: ionic liquids, solvents, drug delivery systems, drug carriers.

© Farm Pol, 2019, 75 (6): 334–348