Solubility and preferential solvation of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in methanol + water mixtures at 298.15 K

The equilibrium solubilities of naproxen (NAP), ketoprofen (KTP), and ibuprofen (IBP) in methanol + water binary mixtures at 298.15 K were determined and the preferential solvation parameters were derived by means of the inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals (IKBI) method. These drugs are very sensitive to specific solvation effects. The preferential solvation parameters by methanol δx_1,3 are negative in water-rich mixtures but positive in compositions from 0.32 in mole fraction of methanol to pure methanol. It is conjecturable that in the former case the hydrophobic hydration around aromatic rings and/or methyl groups plays a relevant role in the solvation. The higher solvation by methanol in mixtures of similar co-solvent compositions and in methanol-rich mixtures could be explained in terms of the higher basic behaviour of this co-solvent interacting with the hydroxyl group of the drugs. Moreover, drug solubilities were correlated by using the modified nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich–Kister model obtaining average percentage deviations (APDs) lower than 9.0%.