Journal of Chemical Reviews
Volume:5 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

This article reviews the potential application of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for lactic acid production from lignocellulosic materials where DESs could be used as both preatreatment and extraction solvents as an alternative to the conventional organic solvents and ionic liquids. From literature survey, conventional methods currently explored for lactic acid (LA) production have several drawbacks of low yield, impure LA, low distribution coefficient, high cost of solvents, and non-recyclability of the solvents. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) is paramount in LA production as  could enhance biotechnological development in obtaining higher yield of LA through better recovery as compared with the conventional extraction methods. The prospects of using DESs for LA production is huge in that, their unfavorable properties can be overcome by tailoring them through changing the nature of the molar ratio of hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) to hydrogen bond donors (HBD), by adding appropriate amount of water if the DESs is highly viscous, by changing temperature or pressure and formation of ternary deep eutectic solvent through combinations of more components. DESs differs from the conventional organic solvent and ionic liquids as it offers several advantages  of recyclability, biodegradability, less volatile, non-toxic, non-flammability, high tuneability, high dissolution capability, ease, short time of preparation, and low costs as both pre-treatment and extraction solvents, but its feasibility for LA production has not been tested yet.

One of the leading causes of death apart from cancer is a neurodegenerative disease. Huntington's disease (HD) is such that affects the neurons resulting from the programmed degeneration of the nerve cells. It is expressed throughout the brain, most striking within the striatum and the cortex. The misfolded HD protein interrupts the other interacting proteins' activity resulting in the abnormal functioning of the nerve cells leading to the uncontrolled movements, loss of intellectual faculties, emotional disturbances categorizing motor dysfunctions, and behavioural and cognitive deficits. The genomic origin of the disease can be traced to the amplification of a cysteine-adenosine-guanine repeat that encodes a polyglutamine region in the huntingtin’s amino terminal end. However, the mechanism and modality in which cysteine-adenosine-guanine expansion leads to a poisonous effect on the neuron are yet to be clearly understood. However, studies have recently revealed that change in the blueprint (mRNA) of the protein gives rise to misfolded protein and the fragments accumulate, by making interaction with the other elements in cells resulting in the problems associated with HD. Hence, as opposed to the traditional and controversial protein misfolding hypothesis, amyloid formation is the result rather than the HD cause. Although, the N-terminal fragments of mutant huntingtin (mHtt) misfolded into amyloid-like fibrils as a key signature of HD pathology. Currently, no effective remedy has been found for HD. This review highlights the possible cause, pathogenesis, and recent therapy aiming at down-regulating the expression of huntingtin (Htt), lowering the misfolding, and aggregation of the huntingtin protein.

Polyaniline (PANI) with tunable morphology was synthesized in ionic liquids to overcome the short cycle life of PANI-based electrodes materials for supercapacitors. It was found that the ionic liquids perform the role of a “soft” template agent and a dopant agent in the polymerization medium of PANI thanks to the non-covalent interactions between the ionic liquids and the PANI. These functions of ionic liquids lead to well-organized nanostructured morphology of PANI and an improvement of PANI-electrode wettability, and thus enhanced electrochemical performances and cycle life stability of PANI-based electrodes. However, the ability of ionic liquids in performing their role either as a soft template or as dopant agent during the PANI synthesis is largely affected by the structure of ionic liquids (head group, alkyl chain length, anion structure, and so forth). This work covers the most relevant studies on the mixing characteristic of PANI and the ionic liquids to gain an insight into the contribution of ionic liquids in controlling the morphology and the related properties of PANI.

The fact that pyridine-based ring structures have a strong impact on pharmacological activity and have been used so frequently in the drug development process is largely responsible for the discovery of numerous broad range medicinal medicines. Pyridine is a fundamental heterocyclic chemical molecule with an identical conjugated six-electron system to benzene. With the rise in popularity of niacin in 1960, pyridine became an intriguing target. Pyridine and its derivatives are widely distributed in nature, where they serve a crucial role in heterocyclic chemistry and numerous uses in the field of medicine. Globally, 110 million individuals were expected to have diabetes in 1994, and 239 million were projected to have it by 2010. It was reported in 1998 that 135 million people had diabetes in 1995 and that 300 million people would have the condition by 2025. According to a later study, the number of persons with diabetes worldwide increased from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million by the year 2030. According to the International Diabetes Federation's most recent projection, there would be approximately 600 million people living with diabetes worldwide by 2035, up from the previous estimate of 382 million for 2030. Given that diabetes is a global pandemic, it is clear from all of these data that novel anti-diabetic medicine formulations are required. The anti-diabetic properties of various pyridine derivatives from the research articles published up to this point are the focus of this review study.

Superabsorbent hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer units that can absorb water and organic fluids into the three-dimensional network and mimic biological cells when swollen. Hydrogels are categorized as natural, synthetic, and hybrid, depending on their constituent polymer. The novel green synthesis includes the combination of natural polymers with synthetic ones to produce eco-friendly Hydrogels. The networks are established using crosslinkers formed chemically as covalent bonds or ionic bonds and physically if intermolecular forces are involved. Starch and cellulose are naturally occurring biopolymers that make significant applications for hydrogel production. This article reviews hydrogel, its properties, classification, synthesis mechanism, and application in various sectors using starch and cellulose as copolymers. Due to the high range of availability, nontoxic nature, and biodegradability, starch and cellulose-based hydrogels find high regard in the present research era. The biopolymers beneficiation can result in the evolution of economic and sustainable methods for transforming this natural biopolymer into utilitarian organic products.

Organic polymers are one of the most abundant groups of materials, and plastics, rubbers, fibers, adhesives, and coatings are examples of the attractive world of polymer chemistry. Natural polymers usually have a more complex structure than synthetic polymers, so the study of synthetic polymers is particularly important in terms of building simplicity. In this work, the properties and applications of polymers are discussed. Likewise, three important types of polymer compounds including polyurethanes, polyesters, and polyimides were investigated.