Preferential solvation of some n-alkyl p-substituted benzoates in propylene glycol + water cosolvent mixtures

The preferential solvation parameters by propylene glycol (PG) of the homologous series of the n-alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic and p-aminobenzoic acids, namely, methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl derivatives, were derived from their thermodynamic properties of solution by means of the inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals (IKBI) method. The preferential solvation parameters by the cosolvent, δx_1,3, are negative in water-rich mixtures, but positive in PG-rich mixtures, and the relative magnitudes of δx_1,3 are proportional to the alkyl chain length despite of the solvent involved in the preferential solvation, i.e. PG or water. It is possible that the hydrophobic hydration around aromatic ring and/or methylene groups plays a relevant role in the drugs solvation in water-rich mixtures. The more solvation by PG in PG-rich mixtures could be due mainly to polarity effects and acidic behaviour of the hydroxyl or amine groups of the compounds in front to the more basic solvent present in the mixtures, i.e. PG.