Removal of cytostatics resorting to supported ionic liquids: a way to prevent environmental contamination

Abstract

Cancer prevalence is growing fast globally, leading to a great societal challenge related with patients’ life quality and survivorship [1]. Within this framework, pharmaceutical industry is evolving in the light of more effective anticancer therapies, with the use of cytostatic drugs e.g., cyclophosphamide, playing an important role. Still, as with other pharmaceuticals, the excretion of cytostatics during urination leads to their release in wastewater treatment plants and consequently contaminating the aquatic environment [2, 3]. On the hunt for alternative routes to remove cytostatics from aqueous samples, supported ionic liquids (SILs) appear as viable candidates. Here, several ammonium-based SILs were synthesized using silica as the support material and further characterized. Then, in order to attest the potential of SILs as adsorbents for cyclophosphamide (model cytostatic drug), adsorption kinetics and isotherms were determined. The results indicate that the ILs’ cation structure is responsible for a remarkable enhancement in the removal of cyclophosphamide from aqueous samples, attesting the potential application of SILs as adsorbents.