Significance of Green Synthetic Chemistry from a Pharmaceutical Perspective

Abstract

Background: Conventional practices of synthesis, manufacturing, and processing have led to severely adverse consequences for living beings and the environment. Objectives: Although medications cannot be replaced, the methods of synthesizing, manufacturing, and processing them can be changed and/or replaced. This paper explains the significance of green chemistry practices in the pharmaceutical industry. It emphasizes that we must replace conventional drug synthesis, processing, and manufacturing techniques with greener ones that are cost effective, sustainable, environment friendly, and profitable. Discussion: This paper comprises five sections. Section 1 is an introduction to green chemistry and its correlation with the pharmaceutical industry. Section 2 discusses the metrics necessary to measure the greenness of a process. Section 3 is about solvents used in the pharmaceutical industry, hazards, the safety status, and environmental effects, including the ozone depletion potential. Section 4 explains catalytic amidation reactions because amides are one of the most commonly occurring functional groups with pharmacological activity. Section 5 discusses successful cases of converting conventional synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients and/or their intermediates to greener, sustainable alternatives. Conclusion: A balance is necessary between profits, processes, consumers, and the environment to ensure survival of all stakeholders and decrease the environmental burden of pharmaceuticals. Incentives such as green chemistry awards should be endorsed and encouraged, in addition to making green chemistry part of tertiary education. In addition, changes to rules and regulations for drug approval in the context of green chemistry principles are necessary in order to preserve our planet for future generations.

Synthetic and Chromatographic Challenges and Strategies for Multigram Manufacture of KRASG12C Inhibitors

“…Thus, in general, the SFC technique consumes less organic solvent than LC . On a preparative scale, lower solvent consumption, faster run times, and the generation of more concentrated fractions result in significant time and cost savings. , Moreover, if solvent and CO 2 recycling are employed in the separation process, a reduced process mass intensity (PMI) is obtained. − In our chromatography laboratory, most of the CO 2 is recycled during the preparative chromatographic runs. For making the process even more environmentally benign, we also use CO 2 recovered as a side-product from local manufacturing industries.…”

GreenMedChem: the challenge in the next decade toward eco-friendly compounds and processes in drug design

“…17 Hence, recovery and recycling can have a significant positive effect on the environment, reducing the pollution derived from pharmaceutical ingredients. 4,18 As stated above, making the right decisions regarding chemical processes can significantly improve waste reduction and pollution prevention. Through the innovative and strategic design of synthetic routes, chemists can achieve green chemistry goals.…”

“…Accordingly, PMI gives a more precise estimation of the greenness of the process, allowing chemists to transform pharmaceutical synthesis into sustainable, efficient, green ones. 18,50 Although PMI can reduce the environmental impact through resource utilisation and optimisation, some reagents may often be more hazardous than the waste they may create. 51 Hence, it is necessary to wisely choose the reactants, and when the chemist has no experience, a dataset of multi-kilo scaled-up reactions can be used.…”

“…Utilising all the available information, such as mechanistic studies, empirical methods, hazard data, and computational toxicity models, as well as environmental chemistry and toxicology, chemists can prioritise safety from the beginning of the process. 4,18 Moreover, the Environmental Assessment Tool for Organic Synthesis (EATOS) metric has been developed, which quantifies not only the reactants and waste but also their relative toxicity effects. 4,54 Another important topic of this Principle is the transformation of waste into energy, fuels, and other reusable materials, always considering the reduction of the impacts on human health and the environment.…”

“…This "circular economy" is a part of the rational design chemists should perform beforehand because if they create a waste stream that is also reusable as a starting material, they can prevent waste generation (Principle 1). 18 However, this circularity has not been realised to date due to the lack of systems to be designed. Why is achieving this circularity beneficial?…”