Cloud point, fluorimetric and 1H NMR studies of ibuprofen-polymer systems

Influence of six polymers viz. hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (NaCMC) and dextran sulfate (DxS) on solution properties of amphiphilic drug ibuprofen (IBF) has been described in this work. As only HPMC showed the clouding behavior (among the polymers employed herein), its cloud point (CP) was studied in detail in presence of varying amounts of IBF containing different fixed concentrations of inorganic salts (NaCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, KBr and KNO3). Presence of all these salts had CP reducing effect. By means of steady state fluorescence quenching studies, average aggregation number of IBF aggregates (Nagg) in the presence of varying amounts of the mentioned polymers were evaluated and discussed. 1H NMR studies show that the magnitude of chemical shifts (δ) varies with the nature of the polymer.