API-ILs Ionic Adducts: Solubility and Surface Activity Properties—En Route to New Paradigm in Drug Development

  • Janusz Nowicki*
  • , Marian M. Zgoda
  • , Marcin Muszyński
  • , Jyri Pekka Mikkola
  • , Michał Kołodziejczyk
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Two novel, structurally different perfluoroalkyl ionic liquids with bicyclic guanidinium cation have been synthesized and applied as a surfactant component for selected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The addition of perfluoroalkyl ionic liquid to hydrophobic APIs significantly improves their solubility. One of the key and characteristic properties of guanidine derivatives is their strong ability to chemisorb protons (proton affinity). This property enables them to form stable ionic-type aggregates (adducts) with selected hydrophobic APIs containing carboxylic groups. Therefore, these new compounds are, in fact, API-IL ionic adducts formed as hydrogen bond donor–acceptor systems. The obtained adducts are characterized by significantly better solubility than the initial APIs. The presence of perfluoroalkyl chains with unique surface-active properties enables to obtain a solubility of new adducts to reach level sufficient for typical ophthalmic preparations. (e.g., eye drops or lens care). The ionic API-IL adducts obtained in the described studies can be considered as examples of a new class of active derivatives with pharmaceutical potential.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202500404
JournalChemMedChem
Volume20
Issue number21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Nov 2025
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work is a part of the activities of the Lukasiewicz - Institute of Heavy Organic Synthesis “Blachownia”, Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Medical University, Faculty of Farmacy, Lodz in Poland. This work is also a part of the activities of the Technical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Chemical Biological Centre, Umeå University, Sweden as well as the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. In Sweden, the Bio4Energy programme is acknowledged.

Keywords

  • active pharmaceutical ingredients
  • ionic adducts
  • ionic liquids
  • solubility data

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'API-ILs Ionic Adducts: Solubility and Surface Activity Properties—En Route to New Paradigm in Drug Development'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this