Choline Chloride-Based DES as Solvents/Catalysts/Chemical Donors in Pharmaceutical Synthesis

DES are mixtures of two or more compounds, able to form liquids upon mixing, with lower freezing points when compared to the individual constituents (eutectic mixtures). This attitude is due to the specific hydrogen-bond interactions network between the components of the mixture. A notable characteristic of DES is the possibility to develop tailor-made mixtures by changing the components ratios or a limited water dilution, for special applications, making them attractive for pharmaceutical purposes. In this review, we focused our attention on application of ChCl-based DES in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds. In this context, these eutectic mixtures can be used as solvents, solvents/catalysts, or as chemical donors and we explored some representative examples in recent literature of such applications.

Automated summary

DES are mixtures of two or more compounds that can form liquids with lower freezing points due to specific hydrogen-bond interactions, making them customizable for pharmaceutical purposes. ChCl-based DES have been utilized in pharmaceutical compound synthesis as solvents, solvents/catalysts, or chemical donors.