Exploration of ibuprofen binding with micellar assemblies of the efficiently-engineered gemini surfactants: Insights from spectroscopic and voltammetric studies

Abstract

Owing to the application of surfactants in drug delivery, binding interaction of anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen with green and efficiently-engineered gemini surfactants (Cm-E2O-Cm, where m = 12, 14 and 16) was investigated through intrinsic/extrinsic fluorescence, absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism and voltammetric studies. A quantitative assessment of the involved interactions was made in terms of various binding parameters (Kb, n and ), evaluated by using intrinsic fluorescence, UV-visible and CV measurements. These three techniques clearly indicate the 1:1 complex formation between IBF and Cm-E2O-Cm with the same trend of binding capacity i.e., C12-E2O-C12 > C14-E2O-C14 > C16-E2O-C16. On the other hand, reverse trend was observed for Ksv values (C12-E2O-C12 < C14-E2O-C14 < C16-E2O-C16). Additionally, evaluation of the thermodynamic parameters unveiled that the binding process was spontaneous and primarily mediated by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. Microenvironmental/conformational changes upon IBF–Cm-E2O-Cm complexation were further confirmed by extrinsic fluorescence and CD studies. Comparing all the results, it can be deduced that structural modulation of surfactant has appreciable influence on these interactions and thus, this study is expected to offer a new platform for potential tunable drug delivery systems, making it alluring for applications in pharmaceutical and biomedical fields.