Dimethyl Carbonate: Environmentally Benign Reagent for Pharmaceutical Synthesis

An important source of global pollution is the chemicals manufacturing industry. Many of the steps involved in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals are based on reactions and reactants developed many decades ago when environmental concerns were absent. A large number of these reactions are based on the use of stoichiometric amounts of reagents producing most of the hazardous byproducts. Dimethyl carbonate is a unique molecule with versatile chemical reactivity. Dimethyl carbonate and other dialkyl carbonates offer powerful perspectives for the development of alkylation/carboxyalkylation methods in the pharmaceutical synthesis. It is an environmentally benign building block because of its cheap commercial availability and high ecological safety profile; it possesses interesting solvating properties, low toxicity, and is highly biodegradable.