Green approaches to the production of iopamidol

Iodinated contrast agents, such as iopamidol, are worldwide employed for performing a number of X-ray diagnostic procedures. Every year, thousands of tons of iodinated contrast agents are manufactured for the market with chemical processes that usually employ thionyl chloride. In this paper, we describe two new green approaches to iopamidol that avoid or reduce the use of this noxious reagent.