LAUSR

Abstract Aqueous micellar solubilization of ibuprofen and gemfibrozil drugs was investigated at constant temperature (25.0 ± 0.1) °C and atmospheric pressure using shake-flask and UV–vis spectrophotometric techniques. The solubility measurement was done in presence of three surfactants possessing different head groups, namely sodium dodecylsulfate (anionic SDS), cethyltrimethylammonium bromide (cationic CTAB) and polyethylene glycol dodecyl ether (non-ionic Brij 35) as well as their binary mixtures. The micellar solubility descriptors of χ (molar solubilization capacity), K (micelle–water partition coefficient), and ΔGs∘ (standard free energy of solubilization) were obtained to estimate quantitatively the solubilization efficiency of the surfactant systems. Moreover, the octanol-water partition coefficient of these drugs was also evaluated in the micellar solutions. The results obtained in the aqueous micellar system demonstrate that, irrespective of the surfactant type, the solubility of drugs increases with increasing the concentration of micelles. It was found that the solubility of ibuprofen and gemfibrozil in Brij 35 and CTAB solutions, respectively is higher compared to that in the other surfactants. However, the partition coefficients of these drugs show an inverse trend with solubility data. Finally, the effect of the surfactant type on solubility enhancement of the drugs is explained in terms of possible interactions between the drug and the micelle.