Ionic Liquids: powerful tools in pharmaceutical and material sciences

The aim of my PhD was to design new ILs and use them in new and intriguing applications, exploiting their unique properties to overcome obstacles or to improve some processes in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry and in the field of new and biocompatible smart materials. During the 1st year of my PhD, I studied the synthesis of new bio-active ionic liquids. I worked on two projects: 1) the synthesis of new ILs and related AuNPs as Matrix MetalloProteinases (MMP) inhibitors; 2) synthesis of new ILs used as antimicrobial agents. Subsequently, I moved my interest to the synthesis of ILs for the manipulation of biopolymers, especially cellulose, with particular attention to the environmental sustainability of the processes. New bio-inspired ionic liquid based on levulinic acid were developed, Levulinic acid is a promising building block directly obtainable from cellulose. These ionic liquids were prepared using a new and highly sustainable synthetic route. All ILs were characterized and used for cellulose dissolution. For some of these, the Levulinate Protic ILs, another application has been proposed, the levulination of cellulose in homogeneous conditions, a modification that allows for the functionalization of cellulose hydroxyl groups in order to obtain new materials. Moreover, eco-toxicity assays were performed. In the field of smart materials, I studied the preparation of new smart materials, in particular Thermal Energy Storage systems (TESs) entirely based on natural components. The new materials were made using cellulose or cellulose/wool as polymeric matrix, [BMIM]Cl as the biopolymers dissolving agent and eicosane encapsulated inside sporopollenin capsules (Lycopodium clavatum) as Phase Change Material (PCM).