Solubility of drug-like molecules in pure organic solvents with the CPA EoS

Solubility data in different solvents are an important issue for separation processes involving complex molecules such as natural products and pharmaceutical drugs. Nonetheless, solubility data are in general scarce and difficult to obtain, and so models are important tools to generate the necessary estimates. Different correlative, statistical and thermodynamic models have been proposed to evaluate solubilities. From these, the more theoretically sound thermodynamic models allow to generate estimates at broader temperature, pressure and composition conditions while using a smaller amount of experimental information. Among these, the cubic-plus-association equation of state that combines the simplicity and robustness of a cubic equation of state with the Wertheim's association contribution has been under attention. In this work, this EoS is for the first time proposed to model organic phase solubilities of drug-like molecules in a wide range of temperatures. Solubilities of acetanilide, acetylsalicylic acid, adipic acid, ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, ibuprofen, paracetamol and stearic acid were estimated in alcohols, ketones, alkanes, esters, acids, aromatics, chlorinated solvents, as well as in other common solvents. The hydrogen bonding behaviour was explicitly accounted for with each associating group being treated individually, as well as multiple group substitutions. Accurate correlations were obtained using a single binary interaction parameter (global AAD of 24.2%), while considering the complexity of the studied systems predictions were generally also satisfactory. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.