Masahiro Goto

The pharmaceutical industries face a series of challenges in the delivery of many newly developed drug molecules because of their low solubility, bioavailability, stability and polymorphic conversion.

This critical review highlights the recent advancements of using biocompatible ionic liquids as “green” designer solvents and/or materials to overcome the limitations caused by conventional organic solvents/materials in pharmaceutics and medicine.

We report the first successful application of a novel IL-assisted non-aqueous microemulsion stabilized by a blend of two nontoxic surfactants, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween-80), and sorbitan laurate (Span-20) for transdermal delivery of acyclovir, which is insoluble or sparingly soluble in water and most common organic liquids.

As environmentally benign "green" solvents, room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) have been used as solvents or (co)solvents in biocatalytic reactions and processes for a decade. The technological utility of enzymes can be enhanced greatly by their use in ionic liquids (ILs) rather than in conventional organic solvents or in their natural aqueous reaction media. In fact, the combination of green properties and unique tailor-made physicochemical properties make ILs excellent non-aqueous solvents f

The technological utility of biomolecules (e.g. proteins, enzymes and DNA) can be significantly enhanced by combining them with ionic liquids (ILs) - potentially attractive "green" and "designer" solvents - rather than using in conventional organic solvents or water. In recent years, ILs have been used as solvents, cosolvents, and reagents for biocatalysis, biotransformation, protein preservation and stabilization, DNA solubilization and stabilization, and other biomolecule-based applications. U

Hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have attracted much attention as sustainable extraction media for various metals. However, in previously developed DESs, only one DES component is involved in metal complex formation, which has limited their extraction performance and selectivity. Here, we propose a novel synergistic DES concept for improving the performance of environmentally benign liquid–liquid extraction of lithium (Li). Two different conventional extractants, a beta-diketone and a n

The insolubility of enzymes in most ionic liquids has been overcome by the formation of aqueous microemulsion droplets in a hydrophobic ionic liquid stabilized by a layer of anionic surfactant sodium bis(2-ethyl-1-hexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) in the presence of 1-hexanol as a cosurfactant and the catalytic activity of one of the enzymes studied (lipase PS) became higher than in microemulsions of AOT in isooctane.

Paclitaxel (PTX) injection (i.e., Taxol) has been used as an effective chemotherapeutic treatment for various cancers. However, the current Taxol formulation contains Cremophor EL, which causes hypersensitivity reactions during intravenous administration and precipitation by aqueous dilution. This communication reports the preliminary results on the ionic liquid (IL)-based PTX formulations developed to address the aforementioned issues. The formulations were composed of PTX/cholinium amino acid

To obtain more stable W/O emulsion for liquid surfactant membrane technique, a series of glutamic acid dialkyl esters and dialkyl type quaternary ammonium salts as new surfactants in place of Span 80 and polyamine were synthesized. The adsorption equilibria between aqueous solution and organic solution containing the synthesized surfactants were elucidated and the stability of liquid surfactant membrane made of these surfactants was examined in a stirred tank. A series of synthesized surfactants