A Review: Applications of Ionic Liquids in Medicinal Chemistry

Ionic liquids are extraordinary compounds, with highly tunable and remarkable properties, formed of cations and anions, bonded via electrostatic forces. They are compounds of interest because of their properties, including low melting point, low vapor pressure, less volatility, thermal stability, and many others. They have been categorized into generations, out of which the third-generation ionic liquids (ILs) apprehend all the attention due to their biological properties. Ionic liquids have been known to be a highly cost-effective and straightforward method to form active compounds which have been used in various applications, both in medical and non-medical terms. Ionic liquids with the ions Imidazolium, Phosphonium, Pyrrolidinium, Pyridinium, and 1,3-benzodioxole have been discussed briefly elaborating their applications as catalysts (in coupling reactions such as Suzuki, Hantzsch, Sonogashira, and various hydrolysis reactions), alternative for the conventional organic solvents, Adsorbents, Heat transfer media and various Electroactive devices including lithium-ion batteries. This project pays more attention to the usefulness of Ionic Liquids as APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and their precursors, highlighting their bio-medical usage. The influence of certain ions on the biological properties of the API's (single API ionic liquids) and some ions themselves acting as API, forming double API ionic liquids, highlighting the anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory and other important biological properties of the ionic liquids. Overall, this project covers majority of everything present in the literature, related to understanding of the ionic liquids and their promise for a variety of applications in present and future.