The European Union is about to introduce new regulations restricting the use of the solvent DMF. What does this mean for the industry where DMF is still widely used?

Peptide-based therapeutics are capable of addressing diverse diseases. Both the discovery and manufacturing of these therapeutics heavily rely on solid-phase peptide synthesis. This technology works by adding amino acids to a polymer resin, using orthogonal protective groups to prevent unwanted polymerization. Over several decades, this technique has been refined with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent of choice, which is toxic for both humans and the environment. In spite of this, the aprotic solvent is still widely used, due to the lack of suitable alternative solvents, probably related to the general conservative attitude of the chemical industry. For the industry to change or incorporate new technologies, you need strong economic incentives, supply-chain adaptions, or regulatory changes.