Pharmaceutical Applications of Cellulose Ethers and Cellulose Ether Esters

• Published in: Biomacromolecules Vol. 19; no. 7; pp. 2351 - 2376
• Main Authors: Arca, Hale Cigdem, Mosquera-Giraldo, Laura I, Bi, Vivian, Xu, Daiqiang, Taylor, Lynne S, Edgar, Kevin J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 09.07.2018
• Subjects: adhesives; butyrates; carboxymethylcellulose; Cellulose - analogs & derivatives; cellulose acetate; crystal structure; Drug Delivery Systems - methods; enterocytes; Esters - chemistry; ethers; fabrics; Food and Drug Administration; glass transition temperature; hydrogen bonding; oil fields; personal care products; photochemistry; polymers; solubility; succinic acid; toxicity
• ISSN: 1525-7797; 1526-4602; 1526-4602
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00517

Cellulose ethers have proven to be highly useful natural-based polymers, finding application in areas including food, personal care products, oil field chemicals, construction, paper, adhesives, and textiles. They have particular value in pharmaceutical applications due to characteristics including high glass transition temperatures, high chemical and photochemical stability, solubility, limited crystallinity, hydrogen bonding capability, and low toxicity. With regard to toxicity, cellulose ethers have essentially no ability to permeate through gastrointestinal enterocytes and many are already in formulations approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We review pharmaceutical applications of these valuable polymers from a structure–property–function perspective, discussing each important commercial cellulose ether class; carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, and ethyl cellulose, and cellulose ether esters including hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose acetate succinate and carboxymethyl cellulose acetate butyrate. We also summarize their syntheses, basic material properties, and key pharmaceutical applications.