Insight into molecular interactions and energetics of surfactant self-assembly in hydrated glucose-urea deep eutectic solvent

Self-assembled structures in highly biocompatible Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent (NADES) are gaining popularity as new drug delivery systems due to their inherent advantages. Although glucose-urea (GU) based NADES satisfies the criterion of an efficient DES in terms of low toxicity, stability at desirable pH range, low viscosity and biocompatible polarity its potential as a medium for molecular self-assembly is yet unexplored. In this work we present first systematic study of self-assembly of pharmaceutically important excipients like sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and Brij 35 (B35) in three hydrated GUNADES using isothermal titration calorimetry. The findings are correlated to the microstructure of these solvents as delineated from molecular dynamics simulations. Micro-environment of the micelles in a typical hydrated GU NADES has been studied using time resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements. Cyto-toxicity of the proposed NADES has been assessed using MTT assay. CMC values of the surfactants increased with increase in glucose-urea concentration in the NADES indicating increased solvophilicity in GUNADES. Fluorescence studies indicate higher polydispersity of sodium deoxycholate in water than GUNADES. Cyto-toxicity study of GU80 shows good biocompatibility.