Using Solvate Ionic Liquids to Address Polymorphism in Pharmaceuticals

Abstract

Polymorphism is the recrystallization of the solid phase of a substance. This recrystallization has posed a problem in the pharmaceutical industry leading to problems of patent litigation. To address this problem, we employed the idea of ionic liquids. By using ionic liquids, the drugs would be potent and since they would be in the liquid form, the solid phase recrystallization would no longer pose a problem. Our research explores the system of Penicillin G and three glycols, Triethylene glycol, Tetraethylene Glycol, and Pentaethylene glycol. We looked at the stability of the solutions by tracking their rates of degradation through IR and UV-vis spectroscopy. We also used tests with Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) to see if the solutions remained biologically active once the penicillin was wrapped by the glycol. Our results showed that the most effective glycol was the pentaethylene glycol and that it remained biologically effective for longer amounts of time than the traditional solution penicillin in water. This establishes the validity of the idea and therefore further research can be conducted to create a nontoxic glycol with similar properties of pentaethylene glycol.