Synthesis and characterization of a novel amphiphilic polymer

Abstract

The work of this thesis presents the synthesis procedure of the novel amphiphilic copolymer poly(β-cyclodextrin-co-citric acid) and its various characterization techniques in order to explore the applicability of this new polymer as an enhanced agent of encapsulation for hydrophobic drugs. The synthesis consists of poly-condensation polymerization of beta-cyclodextrin and citric acid monohydrate with sodium hypophosphite monohydrate as a catalyst. The copolymer is characterized and confirmed by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The Ultra Violet spectroscopy (UV) was used to deduce the solubility curves as well as to apply both Jobs and Scotts methods to calculate the solubility constants, also the UV measurements show that the synthesized polymer is able to enhance the solubility of two different hydrophobic drug, namely Ibuprofen and Flurbiprofen, in an aqueous medium. The results of this study reveal that the novel copolymer could be a potential candidate for hydrophobic drug delivery systems.