Solubility of Sulfamethazine in Acetonitrile–Ethanol Cosolvent Mixtures: Thermodynamic Analysis and Mathematical Modeling

Abstract

The low water solubility of sulfamethazine (SMT) limits its clinical efficacy, making it crucial to study techniques such as cosolvency to optimize pharmaceutical formulations. This study aimed to thermodynamically evaluate the solubility of SMT in {acetonitrile (MeCN) + ethanol (EtOH)} cosolvent mixtures over a temperature range of 278.15 to 318.15 K in order to understand the molecular interactions that govern this process. SMT solubility in the mixtures was measured using a flask-shaking method. The solid phases were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to rule out polymorphisms. Using the Gibbs–van’t Hoff–Krug model, we calculated the apparent thermodynamic functions of the solution and mixture from the obtained data. The results showed that solubility increased almost linearly with MeCN fraction and temperature, indicating that MeCN is a more efficient solvent and that the process is endothermic. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that dissolution is an endothermic process with favorable entropy for all compositions. The higher solubility in MeCN is attributed to the lower energetic cost required to form the solute cavity compared to the high energy needed to disrupt the hydrogen bond network of ethanol. This behavior can be explained by an enthalpy–entropy compensation phenomenon. This phenomenon provides an essential physicochemical basis for designing pharmaceutical processes.