Of Rosin materials towards pharmaceutical and environmental purposes

Abstract

Industrial environments are found across the world, and have directly contributed to the increase in factories as a result. However, there are also serious issues that have arisen from these industries, with major concerns pertaining to their toxic vapors, wastes, byproducts, and water contamination by metals (mercury and lead).The best option to remove these metals is to use an environmentally conscious ligand; one option is to use a bio-renewable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly material to bind and extract metals from various materials. Other concerns include drawbacks from the pharmaceutical industry such as poor water solubility and dissolution rates of many drugs. One way to address this issue is by using the prodrug strategy. An FDA approved material Rosin, a binder for pharmaceutical tablets, can be used to address both of the aforementioned issues; the main component is a carboxylic acid (abietic acid) and can form esters with hydroxy-comprised compounds (imidazole-thiones or hydroxyl groups). The produced esters can form metallic complexes with heavy metals (imidazole-thione materials) or deliver a drug into an aqueous environment (through a prodrug strategy). In addition, the hydrolysis of the rosin esters will allow for its recovery. Here, we present our efforts towards developing such rosin esters as bio-renewable, biodegradable ligands for removal of heavy metals from the environment, and as potential drug delivery systems.