ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at another factor that potentially limits the greening of a pharmaceutical product. The pharmaceutical industry has some inherent difficulties in meeting green chemistry goals. In addition, it is trying to comply with as many green and green engineering principles as possible. The pharmaceutical industry designs, develops, produces, and markets medicinal and related products used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent diseases. R. Sheldon described the synthesis of phloroglucinol, a pharmaceutical intermediate, which is not green for multiple reasons. Green synthesis of sildenafil citrate, marketed as Viagra, a drug for treatment of male erectile dysfunction, was so successful that it received 2003 UK Award for Green Chemical Technology. Rabeprazole is an antiulcer drug, which is available worldwide under many brand names. The central problem in synthesizing Dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) is that enantioselectivity needs to be achieved. The human body makes only l-DOPA, but not its counterpart with opposite chirality, d-DOPA.