Hydroxypropylcellulose-aceclofenac conjugates: high covalent loading design, structure characterization, nano-assemblies and thermal kinetics

This article presents synthesis of novel macromolecular prodrugs of aceclofenac (an anti-inflammatory drug) onto hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC). The HPC-aceclofenac conjugates were prepared using an acylating agent 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) under homogenous reaction conditions. Aceclofenac was first activated by using CDI to form its N-acylimidazole. The N-acylimidazole of aceclofenac was then reacted with HPC polymer at 80 °C for 24 h. Highly pure prodrugs of aceclofenac were synthesized with a wide range of moderate to high degree of substitution (DS 0.41–2.12) as calculated by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The UV spectroscopic analysis has also revealed that the active drug aceclofenac was found in different conjugates from 28 to 67 mg/100 mg of HPC-aceclofenac conjugates which are in good agreement with DS calculated by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The gel permeation chromatography showed unimodal absorption that indicates no significant degradation in polymer chains during the reaction. The macromolecular prodrugs of aceclofenac were characterized using different spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. The thermal analysis has revealed that HPC-aceclofenac conjugates (prodrugs) are 92 and 96 °C more stable than pure aceclofenac regarding their initial (Tdi) and maximum degradation temperatures (Tdm), respectively. The activation energy (Ea) and frequency factor (Z) of the degradation reactions were evaluated using Friedman, Broido and Chang methods. Degradation followed first order (n) kinetics. Transmission electron microscopy has revealed the formation of sponge like nano aggregates with population size distribution of around 80–150 nm.