Micellar acid-base potentiometric titrations of weak acidic and/or insoluble drugs

The effect of various surfactants [the cationics cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC), the anionic sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), and the nonionic polysorbate 80 (Tween 80)] on the solubility and ionization constant of some sparingly soluble weak acids of pharmaceutical interest was studied. Benzoic acid (and its 3-methyl-, 3-nitro-, and 4-tert-butyl-derivatives), acetylsalicylic acid, naproxen and iopanoic acid were chosen as model examples. Precise and accurate acid-base titrations in micellar systems were made feasible using a microcomputer-controlled titrator. The response curve, response time and potential drift of the glass electrode in the micellar systems were examined. The cationics CTAB and CPC were found to increase considerably the ionization constant of the weak acids (delta pKa ranged from -0.21 to -3.57), while the anionic SDS showed negligible effect and the nonionic Tween 80 generally decreased the ionization constants. The solubility of the acids in aqueous micellar and acidified micellar solutions was studied spectrophotometrically and it was found increased in all cases. Acetylsalicylic acid, naproxen, benzoic acid and iopanoic acid could be easily determined in raw material and some of them in pharmaceutical preparations by direct titration in CTAB-micellar system instead of using the traditional non-aqueous or back titrimetry. Precisions of 0.3-4.3% RSD and good correlation with the official tedious methods were obtained. The interference study of some excipients showed that a preliminary test should be carried out before the assay of formulations.