Ionic liquids in pharmaceutical industry: a systematic review on applications and future perspectives

Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) have demonstrated incredible potential of application in various industries such as pharmaceutics. Appropriate utilization of ILs in the pharmaceutical industry can be a great option to overcome the operational/functional challenges related to the use of traditional organic solvents like poor drug solubility, systemic toxicity and unacceptable stability. To do this, the development of drug-delivery systems is of great importance. In recent years, the majority of emerged challenges in the field of pharmaceutical industry are due to the requirement of novel and effective therapies. Therefore, finding promising therapies for chronic diseases such as cancer is the real purpose of pharmaceutical industry. ILs have demonstrated great value of investigation in industrial-based pharmacology as new therapeutic agents. Combination of ILs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) significantly enhance the efficacy of APIs as anti-tumor agents in cancer treatment. The prominent aim of this paper is to review the applications of ILs in disparate pharmaceutical approaches such as the preparation of drug nanocarriers (as solvent and functional component) and cancer treatment. This review interprets the state-of-the-art utilizations of ILs as anti-tumor agents. Apart from the abovementined purposes, this review paper aims to explain the application of ILs for continuous pharma manufacturing and provides future perspectives towards improving their performance in pharmacology.