Enhancing effect of choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents with polyols on the aqueous solubility of curcumin–insight from experiment and theoretical calculation

The development of green solvents for enhancing aqueous solubility of drug curcumin remains a challenge. This study explores the enhancing effect of deep eutectic solvents(DESs) on the aqueous solubility of curcumin(CUR) via experiment and theoretical calculation. Choline chloride-based DESs with polyols 1,2-propanediol(1,2-PDO), 1,3-propanediol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol as hydrogen bond donors were prepared and used as co-solvents. The CUR aqueous solubility increased with increasing the DESs content at temperature of 303.15-318.15 K, especially in aqueous ChCl/1,2-PDO(mole ratio 1:4) solutions. The positive apparent molar volume values and reduced density gradient analysis confirmed the existence of strong interactions between CUR and solvent. The van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonding coexisted in DESs monomer retained the stability of DESs structure after introducing CUR. Moreover,the lower interaction energy of DESs…CUR system than that of the counterpart DESs further proved the strong interaction between CUR and DESs. The lowest interaction energy of ChCl/1,2-PDO…CUR system indicated that this system was the most stable and ChCl/1,2-PDO was promising for CUR dissolution.This work provides efficient solvents for utilizing curcumin, contributing to a deep insight into the interactions between DES and CUR at the molecular level, and the role of DESs on enhancing drugs solubility.

DFT and Position of Cl Substitution (PCS) Methods Studies on n-Octanol/water Partition Coefficients (lgK_(ow)) and Aqueous Solubility (–lgS_w) of All PCDD Congeners

Optimized calculations of 75 PCDDs and their parent DD were carded out at the B3LYP/6-31G＊ level by density functional theory （DFT） method. The structural parameters were obtained and significant correlation between the C1 substitution position and some structural parameters was found. Consequently, the number of C1 substitution positions was taken as theoretical descriptors to establish two novel QSPR models for predicting lgKow and -lgSw of all PCDD congeners. The two models achieved in this work contain two variables （Na and Nβ）, of which r = 0.9312, 0.9965 and SD = 0.27, 0.12 respectively, and t values are all large. The variation inflation factors （VIF） of variables in the two models herein are both less than 5.0, suggesting high accuracy of the lgKow and -lgSw predicting models, and the results of cross-validation test also show that the two models exhibit optimum stability and good predictive power. By comparison, the correlation and predictive ability of the present work are more advantageous than those obtained using semi-empirical AM1 and GC-RI methods.

Prediction of Aqueous Solubility for 209 Polychlorinated Diphenyl Ethers from Molecular Structural Parameters by DFT Method

Optimized calculations of 209 polychlorinated diphenyl ethers （PCDEs） and diphenyl ethers were carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G^＊ level with the Gaussian 98 program. Based on the theoretical linear solvation energy relationship （TLSER） model, the obtained structural parameters were taken as theoretical descriptors to establish the novel QSPR model for predicting aqueous solubility （-lgSw） of PCDEs. The model obtained in this work contains two variables： mean molecular polarizability （a） and the most positive partial charge on a hydrogen atom （qH^＋）, of which RE = 0.9606 and SD = 0.32. And the results of cross-validation test also show that the model exhibits optimum stability and better predictive power. Moreover, the predictive power of the new model is better than that of MCIs method.

Estimation of Aqueous Solubility (-lgS_w) of All Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congeners by Density Functional Theory and Position of Cl Substitution (NPCS) Method

Optimization calculations of 209 polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） were carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G^＊ level. It was found that there is significant correlation between the Cl substitution position and some structural parameters. Consequently, Cl substitution positions were taken as theoretical descriptors to establish a novel QSPR model for predicting –lgSw of all PCB congeners. The model achieved in this work contains four variables, of which r^2 = 0.9527, q^2 = 0.9490 and SD = 0.25 with large t values. In addition, the variation inflation factors （VIFs） of variables in this model are all less than 5.0, suggesting high accuracy of the –lgSw predicting model. And the results of cross-validation test and method validation also show that the model exhibits optimum stability and better predictive capability than that from the AM1 method.

Prediction of aqueous solubility of PCBs based on molecular structure

The thermodynamic relationships among aqueous solubility and molar volume (MV) , total molecular surface area (TSA) and molecular connectivity index (MCI) for highly hydrophobic chemicals. PCBs are established and discussed, respectively. Good linear relationships exist among In Cs and MV, TSA or MCI.

Estimation of n-Octanol/water Partition Coeffi-cients(lgK_(ow)) and the Aqueous Solubility(-lg_(Sw)) of all PCDF Congeners by Density Functional Theory

Optimized calculation of dibenzofuran （DF） and 135 polychlorinated dibenzofurans （PCDFs） was carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G＊ level in GAUSSIAN 98 program. Based on the theoretical linear solvation energy relationship （TLSER） model, the obtained structural parameters were taken as theoretical descriptors to establish the novel quantitative structureproperty relationship （QSPR） model for predicting n-octanol/water partition coefficients （lgKow） of PCDFs. The new model of lgKow achieved in this work contains three variables： energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital （EHOMO）, the most negative atomic partial charge （q^-） and average molecular polarizability （a）, of which R^2= 0.9011 and SD = 0,17 with larger t values. In addition, the variation inflation factors （VIF） of variables in the present model are all less than 5.5, suggesting high accuracy of the lgKow model. And the results of cross-validation test （q^2 = 0.8688） and method validation also show this model exhibits optimum stability and better predictive power than semi-empirical method. At the same time, it is found that the aqueous solubility （-lgSw） has high relative correlation with constant volume molar heat capacity （Cv^0）, of which R^2 = 0.9777 and SD = 0.22. Moreover, lgKow and -lgSw values of all PCDF congeners were predicted respectively.

Prediction of the Aqueous Solubilities of Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Using the molecular electronegativity distance vector descriptors derived directly from the molecular topological structures, the aqueous solubilities of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were predicted. A three-variable regression equation with correlation coefficient of 0.9739 and the root mean square errors of 0.26 was developed. The descriptors included in the equation represent three interactions between three pairs of atomic types, i.e., atom -C= and >C=, -C= and -Cl, and -Cl and -Cl. It has been proved that the aqueous solubilities of 137 PCB congeners can be accurately predicted as long as there are more than 65 calibration compounds.

DFT Study on Dissolvability-structure Relationship of Halogeno-benzene

Structural parameters of 36 fluorobenzene, chlorobenzene and bromobenzene compounds were computed at the B3LYP/6-31G^＊ level with DFT method. Based on the experimental data of aqueous solubility （–lgSw） and n-octanol/water partition coefficient （lgKow）, using the modified theoretical linear solvation energy relation （MTLSER） model, correlation equations that can predict –lgSw and lgKow were developed using structural parameters as theoretical descriptors. The correlation coefficients （r） of these equations are 0.9728 and 0.9967, respectively. These equations were further validated by variance inflation factors （VIF） and t-test methods and then used to predict –lgSw and lgKow values. By comparison, the correlation and predictive ability of our work are more advantageous than those calculated from valence molecular connectivity indices method and molecular topology index method.

Effects of Autoclaving and Mercuric Chloride Sterilization on PAHs Dissipation in a Two-Liquid-Phase Soil Slurry

A two-liquid-phase （TLP） soil slurry system was employed to quantify the efficiencies of autoclaving and mercuric chloride sterilization in the dissipation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocaxbons （PAHs）. The fates of 11 PAHs （naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo（a）anthracene, benzo（a）pyrene, benzo（b）fluoranthene, benzo（k）fluoranthene, dibenzo（a, h）anthracene） were recorded over 113 days of incubation. No microorganisms were detected in the HgC12-sterilized soil slurries during the whole incubation period, indicating very effective sterilization. However, about 2% 36% losses of PAHs were observed in the HgCl2- sterilized slurry. In contrast to the HgCl2-sterilized soil slurry, some microorganisms survived in the autoclaved soil slurries. Moreover, significant biodegradiation of 6 PAHs （naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene） was observed in the autoclaved soil slurries. This indicated that biodegradation results of PAHs in the soil slurries, calculated on basis of the autoclaved control, would be underestimated. It could be concluded that the sterilization efficiency and effectiveness of HgCl2 on soil slurry was much higher than those of autoclaving at 121 ℃ for 45 rain.

Crystalline inclusion complexes formed between the drug diflunisal and block copolymers

The solid form of drugs plays a central role in optimizing the physicochemical properties of drugs,and new solid forms will provide more options to achieve the desirable pharmaceutical profiles of drugs.Recently,certain drugs have been found to form crystalline inclusion complexes（ICs） with multiple types of linear polymers,representing a new subcategory of pharmaceutical solids.In this study,we used diflunisal（DIF） as the model drug host and extended the guest of drug/polymer ICs from homopolymers to block copolymers of poly（ethylene glycol）（PEG） and poly（s-caprolactone）（PCL）.The block length in the guest copolymers showed a significant influence on the formation,thermal stability and dissolution behavior of the DIF ICs.Though the PEG block could hardly be included alone,it could indeed be included in the DIF ICs when the PCL block was long enough.The increase of the PCL block length produced IC crystals with improved thermal stability.The dissolution profiles of DIF/block copolymer ICs exhibited gradually decreased aqueous solubility and dissolution rate with the increasing PCL block length.These results demonstrate the possibility of using drug/polymer ICs to modulate the desired pharmaceutical profiles of drugs in a predictable and controllable manner.