Supercritical Fluid Technology: An Overview of Pharmaceutical Applications

Supercritical fluid technologies (SCFT) represent a recent approach for obtaining pharmaceutical materials in pure physical form and the application of supercritical fluids is a superior alternative to conventional precipitation and extraction processes. Supercritical fluid technology (SCFT) offers exciting opportunities to produce and modify pharmaceutical substances and has the potential to revolutionize pharmaceutical processing using simple one-step process to produce micron-size products. Particle and delivery systems design are major developments of supercritical fluids applications. Solute supersaturation causing subsequent precipitation of small particles with a narrow size distribution has been achieved using SCFT. The materials such as nanoand microparticles of high added value compounds: i.e. an active substance (drugs, but also magnetic substances for diagnostic applications) and a polymer for the preparation of delivery systems have proved better. Current pharmaceutical applications of SCFT include: drug extraction and analysis, drug particle and drug polymorph engineering, improve the solubility of a poorly soluble drug , purification and sterilization of medical components, recrystallize pharmaceuticals to nanosize, preparation of metal nanoparticles, chromatography, coating, convert highly brittle crystalline recipients to amorphous or non-crystalline forms, separate and analyze the drug enantiomers, micronization and preparation of drug delivery systems. Scientists are of the opinion that SCFT have the potential to meet challenges for the development processes of pharmaceutical products for 21 century.