Green and Sustainable Technology: Efficient Strategy for Synthesis of Biologically Active Pyrimidine Derivatives

Green chemistry is also referred as sustainable technology which involves the design, synthesis, processing and use of chemical substances by reducing or eliminating the chemical hazards. This strategy focuses on atom economy, use of safer solvents or chemicals, use of raw materials from renewable resources, consumption of energy and decomposition of the chemical substances to non-toxic material which are eco-friendly. So, this technology is utilized for the sustainable development of novel heterocyclic scaffold like pyrimidine derivatives. Pyrimidine is a six membered heterocyclic aromatic compound with two nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3 in the ring system. Among the other heterocyclic compounds, pyrimidine derivatives plays major role due to their diverse promising biological activities such as antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-viral, anti-tubercular, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anticancer, anthelmintic, antioxidant, anti-epileptic, antipsychotic, anti-anxiety, antimalarial, antihistaminic, anti-parkinsonian, analgesic and anti-inflammatory etc. The various green methods used for synthesis of pyrimidine derivatives include microwave assisted synthesis, ultrasound induced synthesis, ball milling technique, grinding technique, photo-catalysis. These processes enhance the rate of the reaction which leads to high selectivity with improved product yields as compared to the conventional synthetic methods. This review is focused on the green synthesis of biologically active pyrimidine derivatives.