The pharmaceutical industry is considered now as the most dynamic
sector of the chemical industry for the 21st century. Sales of medicines and
other pharmaceutical products have increased fourfold from 1985. The
analgetic and anti-inflammatory drugs is a category of medicines which are
produced in vast amounts every year. Some of the most important are :
Aspirin (acetylosalicilic acid), Acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) and
Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen belongs to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with
very high sales.
Ibuprofen was synthesized in 1960 by the pharmaceutical company
Boot (England) and sold under the commercial name Aspro, Panadol and
Nurofen. The synthesis of Ibuprofen was performed in six steps with the
production of secondary by-products and waste. The main problem according
to the scientists at the time was that this synthesis had a very “poor atom
economy”.