Abstract
The solubility of the poorly soluble medicine febuxostat (FXT) (3) in various {polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) (1) + water (H
2
O) (2)} mixtures has been examined at 298.2–318.2 K and 101.1 kPa. FXT solubility was measured using an isothermal method and correlated with “van’t Hoff, Apelblat, Buchowski–Ksiazczak
λh
, Yalkowsky–Roseman, Jouyban–Acree, and Jouyban–Acree-van’t Hoff models”. FXT mole fraction solubility was enhanced via an increase in temperature and PEG 400 mass fraction in {(PEG 400 (1) + H
2
O (2)} mixtures. Neat PEG 400 showed the highest mole fraction solubility of FXT (3.11 × 10
–2
at 318.2 K), while neat H
2
O had the lowest (1.91 × 10
–7
at 298.2 K). The overall error value was less than 6.0% for each computational model, indicating good correlations. Based on the positive values of apparent standard enthalpies (46.72–70.30 kJ mol
−1
) and apparent standard entropies (106.4–118.5 J mol
−1
K
−1
), the dissolution of FXT was “endothermic and entropy-driven” in all {PEG 400 (1) + H
2
O (2)} mixtures examined. The main mechanism for FXT solvation in {PEG 400 (1) + H
2
O (2)} mixtures was discovered to be an enthalpy-driven process. In comparison to FXT-H
2
O, FXT-PEG 400 showed the strongest molecular interactions. In conclusion, these results suggested that PEG 400 has considerable potential for solubilizing a poorly soluble FXT in H
2
O.